MOM software solves debonding problem in manufacturing process
When Composites Atlantic Ltd. (CAL, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada) contracted to produce 10 types of parts for leading edge and rudder components and deliver them on a biweekly schedule to a key aerospace customer, trouble soon cropped up.
CAL turned for a solution to Intercim LLC (Eagan, Minn.), a provider of Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) software. Its trademarked Pertinence Suite Powered by Velocity, an off-the-shelf “rule-driven” execution solution, reportedly can track and compare hundreds of historical process parameters and inspection/test results for past part shipsets in a common database. Even when each individual parameter is correct, there are hundreds of interrelationships among all of the design and manufacturing steps. Intercim’s software examines both to identify the pattern (or patterns) that might inadvertently have an impact on a part and suggest manufacturing changes that could eliminate defects.
CAL initially leased the Process Rules Discovery module. After three-days of training, Guitton entered more than two years of records for the most severely impacted parts, including all parameters recorded at various stages of the manufacturing process. After just one week of analysis, two apparently unrelated and, until then, unsuspected steps proved to be influencing the debonding issue: resin viscosity and the time period between part bagging and autoclave cure. Alterations dropped the part scrap rate to zero, and reduced rework to <1 percent, reports Guitton. “Our changes allowed us to catch up on back orders and regain our customers’ trust,” adds Kinsman. The Pertinence Suite software package, since purchased by CAL, is enabling analysis of other parts and processes.Related Content
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