Maximising Production Efficiency

Product Range: OQ610 Oven Logger

The Background: Matrix Polymers are suppliers of raw materials as used in the plastics rotary moulding industry. They offer a comprehensive technical support service to their customer base. Part of this service includes technical advice and assistance to maximise their customers' production efficiency.

Application: Product Development and quality control.

The Squirrel Solution: The OQ610 with a thermal barrier and 4 x thermocouples was used to monitor the internal temperature of the moulding tool when inside the curing oven. The thermal barrier can be used to up to 250ºC for up to 20 minutes depending upon the size and volume of the product being moulded.

The thermocouples were wired to the inside of the mould tool to monitor the air temperature and crystallization point of the polymer material which is 180ºC. This process monitoring aids their customer's QA processes and assists them in minimizing the curing time whilst ensuring the product is not over cured. Over and under curing has a significantly detrimental effect on the product appearance and quality.

Previous logger used: A simple, single channel data logger. This unit was adversely affected by the high operating temperatures as it was enclosed in a lower quality thermal barrier. It simply could not offer the robustness or longevity required by the customers. In addition it could not log the temperature profile of the mould tool effectively with a single channel.

The Benefits: The end customers can optimise their process by reducing production cycle times whilst maintaining their high quality of production. This increase in yield assists them in reducing their manufacturing costs. In addition, they are able to document batch to batch thermal processing and validate that the product has been produced in accordance with their QA and product procedures.

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