Nipro Gets the Whole Package with GAGEtrak^®

Nipro Corporation was established in 1954 under the management philosophy of contributing to society through its business activities. Today, Nipro PharmaPackaging products are used on a global scale and lead the world market. The Nipro brand is highly regarded worldwide for its technological superiority and high quality.

Diana Coblentz of the Westport, IN location reports that prior to GAGEtrak, the company used an Access program that was designed in-house. They later decided that a validated system was required to track their gage and calibration data, so they selected GAGEtrak, the world’s #1 calibration management software solution.

Since 2007, Coblentz has used GAGEtrak to manage the calibrations of approximately 250 gages and notes that she has configured the software to email her a list of calibrations due every day, which saves time and assures that no gage will be forgotten. Coblentz says that GAGEtrak is, “…efficient – covers all areas needed for calibration.” Coblentz also reports, “Our customers like this system better than what we had.”

The company has also taken advantage of GAGEtrak regional training and the calibration label kit to reduce the learning curve and improve efficiency even further. And about the CyberMetrics support team, Coblentz says, “Everyone I have worked with for support was very helpful and nice to work with. The support team does a great job.”

GAGEtrak is used at thousands of facilities worldwide to help quality programs thrive. Contact the GAGEtrak experts today to learn how GAGEtrak will do the same for your company.

New Automated Data Collection Solution Ensures Speed, Accuracy, Scalability and Security

Roush Yates Engines (RYE) of Mooresville, NC and its manufacturing division, Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions (RYMS), continuously evaluates and decides the most optimal ways to leverage technology. So, when RYE explored ways to improve the accuracy, integrity and throughput of its precision measurement data, the decision was made to deploy DataSure® 4.0 (DS4), the industry’s latest data acquisition solution developed by The L.S. Starrett Co. of Athol, MA.

RYE is the exclusive engine builder of Ford Performance for the top levels of NASCAR including the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, as well as the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. In addition, RYMS is a precision CNC parts manufacturing organization with expertise in multi-axis machining of metal and plastic parts with complex geometries for other motorsports, aerospace, defense and high-tech industries. Two well-equipped quality labs have the tools necessary to measure and inspect a wide variety of parts.

Dogged by Data

Alex Marothy, Quality Control Technician/ Programmer & Automation Lead at RYE, said. “Machinists and inspectors were writing down some measurements in log sheets which then needed to be keyed into computer spreadsheets, taking time and possibly leading to errors, as operators may misread gages or write down incorrect values.”

RYE implemented DS4 by starting with a multiple digital indicator application fixture designed for engine inspection. The DS4 application is running in a 40,000 s.f. CNC machining area spanning from the front to back of the shop, transmitting data approximately 200'. In this area there are at least 15 CNC machines, so noise and signals are omnipresent, but despite the distance and potential ambient interference, DS4 operates smoothly via a remote gateway and an antenna.

“We substantially improved our data collection accuracy and time,” said Marothy.  “We found that DS4 saved from 8 to 10 seconds per measurement, and we are doing several thousand measurements per day, thus saving over seven hours of labor daily.” 

RYE also needs to be very vigilant of keeping physical parts data in its network under strict security. DS4 is built on a highly secure proprietary wireless platform, and transported data is encrypted using a multi-layered approach that absolutely prevents any outside access to the data, whether passive or active.

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Olympus uses ZEISS PiWeb to combine process reliability and traceability with efficiency

Medical technology is all about people’s health; sometimes it even goes down to life or death. So, for good reason, the regulatory requirements for manufacturers in this industry rise proportionally with the relevant technical developments. This puts considerable pressure on companies to ensure their inspection processes and inspection results can be traced. Which is why Olympus Surgical Technologies Europe relies on ZEISS PiWeb in its Quality Laboratory to combine process reliability and end-to-end traceability to achieve higher efficiency.

As a high-tech specialist within the Olympus Corporation, Olympus Surgical Technologies Europe is the development and manufacturing center for rigid endoscopy, bipolar high-frequency surgery and reprocessing. With a total workforce of 2,600 employees at nine locations in EMEA and its headquarters in Hamburg, the company stands for exceptional performance in medical diagnostics and therapy, and offers a full range of the most modern endoscopic applications, from single products to procedure-oriented systems solutions.
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Engineers count on PolyWorks^® to assemble a giant reactor

Building the world’s largest magnetic fusion reactor requires the exact assembly of huge and very complex parts.

Discover how engineers used dimensional analysis and reverse-engineering technologies to precisely position the 1,250-ton cryostat base of the ITER tokamak, an experimental source of clean energy being developed in southern France.

The ambitious project required lowering and positioning the giant base of the 16,000-cubic-metre vacuum chamber into its pre-assembly structure, considering tight tolerances and multiple secondary systems to be added, often within millimeters.

To achieve this tremendous task, metrologists helped engineers find the best possible configuration for the machine operation beforehand using the PolyWorks Smart 3D Metrology Digital Ecosystem™. As-built geometries had to be reverse-engineered to detect potential collisions and find solutions. There was really no room for error, meaning that the metrology software had to efficiently handle massive amounts of data to ensure the challenge was completed to perfection.

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Manufacturer Saves Over $1,000,000/yr. With QI Macros

One aluminum manufacturer was having trouble with excess scrap. While there was significant, unavoidable startup scrap, other opportunities to reduce scrap became obvious after some analysis.

While many pounds of finished material were inspected and found wanting before shipment, roughly 40,000 pounds of finished metal were returned each month. Shipping and return costs ate into profitability. Finished metal cost about one dollar per pound. Returned metal had to be chopped up and fed back into the furnace for remanufacture.

Using QI Macros for Excel, it was possible to use PivotTables to analyze and chart ongoing scrap. Control charts showed a stable process producing consistent levels of monthly scrap. Drilling down into the data, Pareto charts showed that one machine out of many was producing most of the scrap. A few hours of root cause analysis with operators of that machine identified simple ways to reduce scrap just by changing the setup and ongoing adjustment process.

Annual savings amounted to over $1,000,000 after only a few hours of analysis.

Million-dollar opportunities lay hidden in data about defects, mistakes, errors, scrap, waste and rework. Using Excel and QI Macros it is possible to mine and find those opportunities—the invisible low-hanging fruit in any company. QI Macros Improvement Project Wizard automates this analysis, creating improvement projects in just minutes.

This analysis works in manufacturing, healthcare, telephony, banking and any industry that tracks waste and rework. Haven’t you waited long enough to find your invisible, low-hanging fruit?