Quality Management Through Metal Fabrication Process Control
Perpetuating quality in products is necessary to any company. Taking a wider stance, perpetuating product quality can be achieved via controlling the quality of the processes that it takes to make that product. An example of controlling of a process would be to take calculations of something when it is working optimally so that the calculations can be compared to calculations in the future, to make sure that top quality functions are still in place. For example, with metal fabrication, strain on the frames of machines can be measured via a strain monitor to assess quality. The machine’s frame strain must have been measured when it was working optimally and producing quality parts so that calculations from that assessment can be employed as a control to assess against when the machine starts acting in a manner that is not best. This can assist in measuring the entire production process. Monitoring processes for differences is a revolutionary new way of looking at quality assurance instead of looking for flaws in parts. If a process produces quality parts and is able to be repeated, this is a model scenario for a manufacturing environment. Process Valuation Monitoring The traits of process variation monitoring include monitoring all of the production but not having to add any additional steps in the process. Also, if a part is discovered to be defective, processing is ceased so that there is no misusing of time in producing defective parts and the defective parts do not cause squandered materials. When process variation monitoring is in effect, maintenance staff do not have to demand that machines are shut down at periodic times so that they can perform their supportive duties or fret about not carrying out their maintenance frequently enough, and the machines don’t perform. In this atmosphere, the maintenance happens only when it is necessary. Maintenance costs will therefore go down and efficiency in machine activity and operation as a whole will increase. Tooling will only be swapped on an as-needed basis in this environment so costs will be recovered because the tooling will not be swapped too soon or too late. The final characteristic is that all staff in the company will concentrate on process instead of the actual pieces being manufactured so gains will be discovered in several places including the quality of the final product. For process control to be useful in any environment, it must have a goal that is narrow and comprehensive. There must also be a method of assessment in place so that it can be determined if the goal is attainable or at what point it will have been reached. There should also be a set of methods with responses that are expected to work, so that effectiveness can be measured. A Case Study in Process Control At Maloya, they used process control in their manufacturing environment, including metal laser cutting. They used it as part of their regular maintenance of machinery which involved regular calibration of the machines. Their laser machines were equipped with test elements and these would be measured and the results documented to ensure that the machine was reporting precise results within the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) specifications. This provided Maloya with an established process capability to guarantee that their processes are working optimally which then translates to their quality levels and principles. This process can also be replicated in areas such as machining and welding, as well as in forming work centers. By instituting process controls, you will find it an effective way of maintaining quality management in a metal production environment. Rather than concentrate on the parts, concentrate on the processes and all will fall into place if done effectively.
