How NDT is about to become even more important
16/01/2017
We all appreciate and understand the role of the NDT department, which is to maintain the quality and integrity of materials and components to ensure safety and continued operation. NDT departments and personnel around the globe achieve this with aplomb. However, their importance is sometimes overlooked and their success only evident with thought. Perhaps NDT is the only department where the overall success can be measured in lack of catastrophe?
However, this hard-working inconspicuous department is about to take centre stage, according to JetSoft, a new BINDT Corporate member company based in Leeds. Quietly, the NDT department has been going about its work testing components and collecting data, and it is this data that is about to burst on to the scene, says JetSoft. This data holds the key to the reduction of waste and improved productivity; it is the kernel that manufacturing data should be built around.
Jetsoft is dedicated to improving the accessibility and efficiency of NDT data. Its products are focused on helping companies to manage their NDT data, a resource that is often poorly utilised and undervalued.
“To improve quality, we must drive change,” said JetSoft Director Tom Martin, “otherwise, how can we expect the quality of a product to improve? The quote often attributed to Einstein comes to mind: ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results’. The data produced by the NDT department is the key to this. To decide what to improve we must understand when and why a problem arose”.
According to Tom Martin, in the best manufacturing environments people try to do this but lack the tools. JetSoft often hears informal discourse between production and the NDT department. A simple example would be:
NDT: “Defect X appears to have recently become more common.”
Production: “In your experience, why do you think this might be happening?”
NDT: “It seems to be more apparent on product W in batches Y and Z.”
Production: “We changed the supplier of a raw material recently that went into those batches.”
NDT: “That seems a likely cause, let’s investigate that further.”
However, even when this does happen, it is insufficient because it relies on the NDT personnel spotting a rise in the occurrence of a defect and the product and batches that the trend has affected. It also relies on the production manager knowing about a supplier change. Even if this is spotted and the assumptions are correct, there is a delay in information exchange and possible correction. Manufacturers have all the data required to automate this process, but lack the tools.
“This is where JetSoft can help,” said Martin. “Our OverSeer solution is structured around building a central database repository for NDT information. Once installed, it is easy to navigate your data, monitor trends, gather insight, create reports, set up notifications and alerts and expose the data to other production processes and systems.
“If you’re an equipment manufacturer, we can add value to your products by supporting your data.”
JetSoft works collaboratively to ensure that its solution fits individual and specific circumstances.
www.jetsoft.co.uk
However, this hard-working inconspicuous department is about to take centre stage, according to JetSoft, a new BINDT Corporate member company based in Leeds. Quietly, the NDT department has been going about its work testing components and collecting data, and it is this data that is about to burst on to the scene, says JetSoft. This data holds the key to the reduction of waste and improved productivity; it is the kernel that manufacturing data should be built around.
Jetsoft is dedicated to improving the accessibility and efficiency of NDT data. Its products are focused on helping companies to manage their NDT data, a resource that is often poorly utilised and undervalued.
“To improve quality, we must drive change,” said JetSoft Director Tom Martin, “otherwise, how can we expect the quality of a product to improve? The quote often attributed to Einstein comes to mind: ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results’. The data produced by the NDT department is the key to this. To decide what to improve we must understand when and why a problem arose”.
According to Tom Martin, in the best manufacturing environments people try to do this but lack the tools. JetSoft often hears informal discourse between production and the NDT department. A simple example would be:
NDT: “Defect X appears to have recently become more common.”
Production: “In your experience, why do you think this might be happening?”
NDT: “It seems to be more apparent on product W in batches Y and Z.”
Production: “We changed the supplier of a raw material recently that went into those batches.”
NDT: “That seems a likely cause, let’s investigate that further.”
However, even when this does happen, it is insufficient because it relies on the NDT personnel spotting a rise in the occurrence of a defect and the product and batches that the trend has affected. It also relies on the production manager knowing about a supplier change. Even if this is spotted and the assumptions are correct, there is a delay in information exchange and possible correction. Manufacturers have all the data required to automate this process, but lack the tools.
“This is where JetSoft can help,” said Martin. “Our OverSeer solution is structured around building a central database repository for NDT information. Once installed, it is easy to navigate your data, monitor trends, gather insight, create reports, set up notifications and alerts and expose the data to other production processes and systems.
“If you’re an equipment manufacturer, we can add value to your products by supporting your data.”
JetSoft works collaboratively to ensure that its solution fits individual and specific circumstances.
www.jetsoft.co.uk
