A worldwide manufacturer of filtration technologies installs WinSPC as its statistical process control system.
The company is a top manufacturer of filtration systems for an array of industries including aerospace, transportation, defense, and production printing. Their filters have diverse applications from keeping video camera disk drives clean to reducing semitruck engine emissions. The company has enjoyed sustained growth through the economic recession, especially in the automotive industry where diesel engine sales have risen amidst tightening emissions regulations. WinSPC has been successfully implemented in stamping, assembly, and machining operations that produce filters mainly for industrial engines.
The filtration company picked WinSPC for its ease of use and administration, versatile connectivity to production equipment, and broad feature set. In a pilot, WinSPC was up and running on the company’s Windows 7 computers, with operators trained, in just a few hours. An intuitive data entry screen with labeled images of the company’s parts made data collection especially easy to learn. In addition, the company’s quality professionals can now quickly create new characteristics and tests using WinSPC without calling on IT staff to write custom code, as was necessary with the previous SPC system.
The company captures data for many dimensions and attributes of its filter components, including characteristics like outer diameter seam height, poppet opening, and spin crimp. The company has also begun tracking machine-related parameters in order to gain new understanding of production performance and to improve process capability. Using WinSPC’s versatile device interface, all this quality data is captured using CMMs, height gauges, calipers, micrometers, and other instruments. The ability to capture data from a larger arsenal of measuring devices than was previously possible has enabled the company to expand the application of real-time SPC to additional production lines. Instant feedback on the data captured has empowered operators to take action at the point of production, preventing unnecessary waste that often results from undetected process changes.
In addition to live process control on the shop floor, the company is performing post-run analysis in order to optimize its filter manufacturing processes. Previously, SPC was performed with one software package and reports were prepared with another. The company is now able to efficiently perform real-time SPC, reporting, and after-the-fact analysis—all within WinSPC. Reports on compliance are easily generated in a few clicks to meet the demands of the company’s industrial engine customers. WinSPC has also delivered expanded analysis capabilities compared to previous systems, including one tool in particular that the company plans to capitalize on: the Cost Inspector™. By using this tool to quantify the costs associated with process variation and offset, the company will be able to prioritize its quality initiatives, justify new equipment purchases, and support its existing cost of quality analysis and risk management efforts.
About DataNet Quality Systems
DataNet Quality Systems empowers manufacturers to improve products, processes, and profitability through real-time statistical software solutions. The company’s vision is to deliver trusted and capable technology solutions that allow manufacturers to create the highest quality product for the lowest possible cost. DataNet’s flagship product, WinSPC, provides statistical decision-making at the point of production and delivers real-time, actionable information to where it is needed most. With over 2500 installed facilities worldwide and distributors across the globe, DataNet is dedicated to delivering a high level of customer service and support, shop-floor expertise, and professional Continuous Improvement, Six Sigma, and Lean Manufacturing services.