Production Quality Control (In-Process)

Quality control during production is an important aspect of reducing cost caused by misaligned equipment or faulty equipment. When a machine is misaligned, operating incorrectly, or faulty, then parts or products produced by that piece of equipment may have poor fitting, tolerances that do not meet specifications, or incorrect yields for a desired product.

To better illustrate this, a tire production company uses a screw-compressor during their production that has a faulty oil filter that let’s oil pass through it. When the oil passes through the filter, it gets carried through the pneumatic pressure pipes and finally begins to accumulate on the controllers and often damages them. The secondary issue is that oil is harmful to rubber and there is an oil limit of two parts per million that is allowed to pass through the filter. Using pressure sensors and the specification for differential pressures that the oil filter is rated for, the oil leak can be prevented by properly maintaining or replacing the filter.

Another example would be the company’s machine that begins the first stage of the tires formation. This machine has a long shaft that the tire is produced on. If the shaft has a misalignment, then defective tires are produced. By vibrational and gyroscopic analysis, the misalignment can be discovered, and the maintenance team will be notified so that they are able to quickly fix the issue.

Providing these notifications real-time during production allows operators and maintenance personnel to effectively communicate issues that reduce defective parts and downtime, ultimately reducing cost.