Wonderware’s new QI Analyst 8.0 software provides companies with enterprise-level quality management functions in a single, integrated and highly productive software toolset that incorporates plant floor, IT and business systems.
Management by results is like driving a car by looking in the rear view mirror, and not the best way to avoid head-on collisions. Similarly with quality, it cannot be inspected into an item. The reason that a product fails final inspection is that quality was not built into the product at every stage of its manufacturing process. That is why quality is everybody's responsibility. Statistical process control (SPC) helps to put management and operators in control of their processes through proactive problem solving well before the train smash. This is an invaluable capability with the power to significantly influence bottom line without necessarily spending a cent.
Wonderware's QI Analyst has won a reputation for itself for improving process quality. Version 8.0 boasts many new features including enterprise-level quality management functions that enable plant personnel to proactively manage process variations in a standardised way, thereby minimising system setup, maintenance and training costs.
"QI Analyst is the quality management element of Wonderware's production and performance management software solutions," says Justin Tweedie, MD of Wonderware Southern Africa, a member of the EOH group. "It provides a broad range of realtime statistical process control (SPC) analysis methods, enabling industrial manufacturers to achieve the benefits of realtime SPC and quality analysis. QI Analyst is designed to monitor and reduce variability in manufacturing which impacts directly on profitability. By providing the extensive data source connectivity required in today's highly-distributed IT environments, QI Analyst enables companies to gain a competitive advantage in their industry."
QI Analyst delivers a comprehensive library of plant performance statistics that can be displayed for the overall process, a given plant or process area or unit, or for any individual process parameter. Using these analysis methods contributes to quality consistency, lower production costs and improved production competitiveness. Operators and other plant decision-makers can easily monitor important process variations with the software's new SPC alarm viewer control. The alarm viewer control can be incorporated into HMI screens, such as Wonderware's InTouch software, or into web pages, enabling operators to detect SPC alarm violations immediately and to address issues more quickly.
"The Alarm Viewer control is designed to dramatically improve the efficiency of operators when monitoring quality parameters," adds Tweedie. "Simple green light/red light indicators can be aggregated easily into a single InTouch HMI screen or web page. As a result, people can monitor the status of a large number of important quality parameters at a glance. If quality violations occur, plant personnel can click on the indicator to quickly drill down and bring up the live SPC chart associated with the indicator. All the detailed information is provided to help operators make well-informed decisions about how to address the problem."
Through the early detection of abnormalities or potentially dangerous trends, QI Analyst helps operators to restore normality calmly and in good time, with minimal disruption and at reduced or no cost. The alternative is usually a panicked reaction after the fact, which often makes things worse and far more expensive than necessary.
For more information contact Justin Tweedie, Wonderware Southern Africa, +27(0)861 WONDER, [email protected], www.wonderware.co.za
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