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Increasing Productivity and Efficiency through Next-generation Quality Solutions

January 5, 2018

Quality issues that occur at any point along the value stream affect a manufacturer’s overall productivity and efficiency. Today’s industry leaders are working to detect defects earlier in a product’s lifecycle, preventing flaws from passing through production points and ultimately increasing customer satisfaction.

Next-generation quality systems are helping manufacturers achieve these goals at every step of design and development, simultaneously increasing overall product quality and safety.

Trends in Next Generation Quality Systems

Next-generation quality trends are leading away from “end-of-the-line” destructive techniques and sample tests after production, and shifting toward nondestructive, in-line monitoring within different stages of production.

Continuous in-line process monitoring, often with closed-loop feedback and control, enables manufacturers to identify and correct production issues in real time, facilitating 100% inspection of all parts. Improved part inspections reduce scrap, rework and work-in-process (WIP), shrinking bottom-line losses.

Current trends in next-generation quality techniques include:

  • In-line Processing – Automated systems provide real-time feedback and enable manufacturers to identify root causes of problems or defects throughout product development. Benefits of inline processing include reduced costs, lower field failure rates, fewer destructive tests and higher overall product quality.
  • Design-for-manufacturing and Inspection—Seamless integration of design-for-manufacturing and inspection modeling through prototype builds and development help to predict and prevent costly design revisions. Benefits include significantly reduced overall development time and improved speed to market.
  • In-service Monitoring—In-service monitoring facilitates upgrades, repairs and retrofits in the field, improving overall asset management and extending useful life. Benefits include reduced operating costs, increased production efficiency, and significantly improved performance.

Solutions for Any Challenge

Opportunities to increase efficiency and eliminate redundancies, defects and failure rates exist at every stage of design and development. Solutions can be designed to address a variety of challenges, overcoming single stage issues or those affecting the entire lifecycle.

EWI’s latest guide, Next-generation Quality Systems to Ensure First-Time Qualitythumbnail_First_Time_Quality_11692_FINAL, outlines the value of next-generation quality techniques in helping manufacturers:

  • Decrease time-to-market—design-for-inspection and productization services reduce risk and uncertainty during product design. As a result, manufacturing accuracy, precision, and resolution increase and products get to market quicker.
  • Reduce total production costs—Nondestructive inspection, automation, metrology and next-generation quality techniques help to improve detection performance, cycle-time, and yield, all producing lower costs. As a result, overall operational reliability and efficiency rises.

View the complete guide to learn more about industry-specific applications of next-generation quality systems.

 

READ THE GUIDE

 

Experts on Your Side

EWI helps manufacturers across industries efficiently and effectively incorporate advanced quality systems into product design, testing, development, and beyond. We offer a broad range of cutting-edge capabilities and technical expertise to tackle any challenge, supported by state-of-the-art equipment, innovative methods, and advanced mathematical modeling expertise.

To learn more about how EWI’s next-generation quality capabilities can help your organization improve product performance and reliability, contact Shaun Freed at [email protected].