Quickly detecting defects and flaws during manufacturing
Defects generated during manufacturing are currently detected offline during the final production stage, causing tremendous loss of time and money and producing undesirable scrap. To avoid such end-of-line failures, the EU-funded MUPROD (Innovative proactive quality control system for in-process multi-stage defect reduction) project set out to develop a new integrated quality control solution to increase product quality and competitiveness. The system aims for reliable and sustainable production with a near-zero defect and scrap target. It consists of sensors and actuators and its controlling software enables real-time multi-data gathering and analysis. Performance monitoring of the various steps in manufacturing processes is uninterrupted. This helps to mitigate defects within or between processes and to enhance their robustness. MUPROD developed new hardware and software solutions that incorporate technological, modelling and methodological innovations into integrated quality control systems for production. It also developed novel sensor and inspection equipment, monitoring and prognosis knowledge-based models, intelligent fixtures and decision-making tools. The sensors and inspection methods automatically take action when faults are detected by the advanced monitoring and diagnostic systems. To validate the technological solutions, the project carried out demonstration activities through real-life use cases from the automotive, customised medicine and green energy industries. The field testing proved the feasibility of zero-defect manufacturing for sustainable and competitive European production. MUPROD introduced monitoring tools for the production line that can counteract and fix defects quicker and sooner. This will result in the reduction of costs and less downtime and wastage while producing higher quality and safer products.
Keywords
Defects, manufacturing, production lines, scrap, quality control system, defect reduction
