Uster Technologies has launched a new standalone version of Uster Quality Expert which, the company says, leverages the value of Uster instruments to significant profitability gains.
The company is promoting Uster Quality Expert at WTiN’s Innovate Textile & Apparel virtual trade show this month (15-30 October). Also at the OEMs booth is information regarding the new Uster Jossi Vision Shield N fibre cleaning system.
By connecting to Uster Quality Expert, the Swiss-based OEM pledges that users will benefit from flexible and fact-based responses to the changing business environment. The new standalone version is designed to boost the resiliency of a cotton manufacturer during a crisis and does this, Uster says, by optimising costs in tougher times and maximising profits when markets recover.
Uster is opening the door to advanced quality and process optimisation by making its unique Quality Management Platform available to a much wider range of yarn manufacturers, it says. Until now, Uster Quality Expert has been exclusively hosted within Uster Tester 6, but to access the new standalone version textile mills only need to have invested in one modern Uster instrument.
With the new offering, users benefit from automated management capabilities which are powered by Uster’s well-known application intelligence. The value is then expanded in the future with every additional product connected.
The launch is part of Uster’s vision to extend its Think Quality concept further across the textile community by using fact-based quality management. The new standalone Uster Quality Expert, and the version hosted on Uster Tester 6, share the same newly updated software release.
Both versions of Uster Quality Expert deliver uncompromising standards in ultimate analysis, unique value modules and fault prevention mechanisms, Uster says. And by utilising the technology, exploring vast optimisation possibilities with total transparency is simplified.
Remote control
The role of accurate data in the production environment is growing, alongside the need for maximum flexibility. Businesses must be ready with effective short-term planning, according to Uster, especially when “markets today are as unstable as people’s health.” Uster is mindful that sudden regulatory changes might call for urgent action, which could determine that a business is no longer viable.
Uster Quality Expert enables informed decision-making, Uster says. The new standalone version offers the same value-added reports, based on combined data from laboratory instruments and in-line monitoring systems. And remote access to production information, whenever and wherever needed, keeps users in the picture 24/7.
Spinners can also connect the Uster Mobile Alerts app to Uster Quality Expert; by doing so they can control mill operations from their mobile phones. The remote features are designed to keep users safe yet enable them to control important production factors throughout the remainder of the Covid-19 pandemic. Beyond the crisis, Uster is also confident the remote features will play a vital role in driving a business upswing.
Automation
As each connected instrument joins the Quality Management Platform, Uster Quality Expert expands its intelligence for fault prevention and assured quality, Uster says. Each value module of Uster Quality Expert helps to “automate costly tasks, prevent faults and drive higher process performance to the required quality levels, constantly and reliably.”
Applying the same data language throughout the mill fosters common understanding. Mill managers, quality managers, operators and other personnel benefit from the well-established value modules, Uster continues, such as the Alarm Center. The Mill Analysis module provides insightful analytics for data-based decisions, and Yarn Prognosis uses an easy-to-read grading system to predict yarn quality for subsequent processing and to prevent claims. The latest release features additional highlights, including a new dashboard design, a bar chart alternative to the spider quality charts, and improvements to the Mill Analysis module, Uster says.
Valuable information
Flexibility in a spinning business also means taking every possible chance to save costs: whether that be waste reduction, power optimisation, or to ultimately obtain maximum value out of costly raw material while maintaining quality requirements.
Control of key quality indicators, and analysis enabling correlative actions, are part of the Total Contamination Control (TCC) and Ring Spinning Optimisation (RSO) value modules, Uster explains.
TCC combines data from Uster Quantum 3 yarn clearers and Uster Jossi Vision Shield fibre cleaning to give spinners precise control over contamination levels in yarns. Interaction between initial control at fibre cleaning and final control at winding makes it possible to balance ejections and clearer cuts. When connecting Uster Quantum 3 and Uster Sentinel to Uster Quality Expert, mills can correlate ring quality data and winding quality for ultimate control over productivity and quality. Uster adds that RSO enables higher spinning performance while optimising cop build-up.
Calling on experience
Uster has been maintaining partnerships with spinning mills worldwide for more than 70 years and has learned to understand exactly what challenges they face. To enable an even faster response to any quality deviations, Uster developed the Alarm Center value module. The latest release of Uster Quality Expert indicates whether a deviation appears in a critical range or in a positive range. This additional information saves time when immediate corrective actions are needed, as well as allowing best management and leveraged improvements in positive cases, Uster says.
Uster’s ambition to support business profitability is as well-known as its dedication to quality. Subsequently, the company believes now is the perfect moment to launch a system which helps yarn producers overcome problems in these crisis-hit times. Remote data access enables mills to make critical decisions now but will boost success factors at the first signs of an upswing. Flexibility is a primary benefit that spinners can achieve through the implementation of the new standalone version of Uster Quality Expert.
“We believe that Uster Quality Expert, in both the hosted and standalone versions, is the solution helping to secure business now and in the future,” says Sivakumar Narayanan, executive vice president and head of marketing & business development, Uster Technologies. “It provides the opportunity for any spinner to benefit from smart quality management from the initial investment and then harvest additional value with each expansion into further quality control tools.”
To find out more about Uster Technologies’ wide range of spinning and nonwoven solutions visitor their booth at Innovate Textile & Apparel. To attend the virtual trade show, register for free by clicking here.
