Technical Fibre products
Improving Efficiency and Customer Service
For over 30 years, TFP have been a leading global manufacturer of nonwovens.
Overview
With a core line of advanced materials used in demanding applications such as automotive, aerospace and fire engineering, material quality, consistency, certified conformance and adherence to set specifications are all vital to TFP. Certifying conformance was complex, due to the huge range of source materials, blends, thicknesses and weights. In addition differing monitoring criteria are required by a varied set of end-users.
TFP’s customers often demand exceptionally close conformity to specification and timely production of data to ensure the integrity of their own production. Prior to QiSOFT installation, the company largely used manual processes for data gathering and interpretation. This procedure involved a substantial commitment of skilled manpower to a tedious and largely unrewarding task. A structured and objective approach was essential in order to find a suitable solution that would not only work for TFP but also its site neighbour James Cropper. With a clearly ranked statement of requirements members of the IT department, quality assurance teams and operators were involved in the final decision and it was agreed that the QIS system not only met all current needs but also offered scope to keep pace with future developments.
The Result
The installation of the QIS system brought TFP tangible benefits. Now, a comprehensive range of data is gathered around the plant and correlated with that from laboratory tests. The QIS system interfaces directly to the Measurex process control system through ProcessLink, QiSOFT’s dedicated interface management module. As each reel is completed, critical product and process data downloads automatically to the QIS data bank. Certificates of Conformance are now produced in half the time and with much greater confidence in their accuracy.
With the installation of QIS, TFP has experienced the benefits of automation including improved real-time process control data, rapid analysis and wide availability making it possible to respond promptly to changes and actively manipulate the process to achieve the desired quality and improved customer service.
