CompositesWorld

MAR 2018

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NEWS 23 CompositesWorld.com Boatbuilding the data: A lamination monitor, a custom-built Power over Ethernet system with connected Honeywell barcode scanners, provides constant progress updates on computer screens to chop spray operators. Each operator scans a barcode associated with each section of the hull, and as the chopper gun oper- ates, the lamination monitor displays material usage and compares it to the design in real time. The lamina- tion monitoring system software, developed by DragonPoint Software Inc. (Rockledge, FL, US), provides status updates on job progress to managers, updates inventory, etc., and reports results to the facility's engineering and quality database. Although Minogue originally considered using individual signal conditioners to read signals from the old, analog equipment, because of availability and low cost, he chose instead a system that offered the flexibility to add more signal chan- nels to accommodate additional equipment (e.g., to record gel coat usage during spraying operations) and other factors such as tempera- ture and humidity: "We've used HBM's equipment in our testing lab for years. The PMX was advanced and had a built-in Application Programming Interface (API) that would let me build a database to read signals from all this equip- ment." Over the course of the beta test, the new MMS system has helped operators reduce mate- rial costs, work more efficiently by enhancing process control and has kept finished parts compliant with company weight specs. Was it worth the investment? For the Sea Ray 590 hull (see photo), the use of this technology already has resulted in a 1,000-lb savings in chopped glass and resin per hull alone. Currently, the MMS is slated to roll out on production lines for Bayliner, Boston Whaler and other Sea Ray models in other Brunswick production facilities over the next two years. BIZ BRIEF McLaren Automotive (Woking, UK) is opening in Yorkshire the £50 million (US$61.3 million) McLaren Composites Technology Centre (MCTC) which will be home to McLaren's second produc- tion facility and the first-ever outside of Woking. More than 40 McLaren employees are already based in Sheffield, housed at the University of Sheffield's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, where they are advancing the process for creating the lightweight carbon fiber Monocage tub structures at the heart of McLaren cars. When fully operational, the MCTC will employ around 200 people, and will supply its tubs to the McLaren Production Centre in Surrey where the company's sportscars and supercars are hand-assembled. 2675 Main Street • PO Box 873 • East Troy, WI 53120 USA www.wisoven.com • sales@wisoven.com • 262-642-3938 Wisconsin Oven is a brand of Thermal Product Solutions, LLC Interior Thermocouple Jack Panel & Vacuum Stubs Interior Supply and Return Ducts with Interior Lighting Pressure Transducer Monitoring Lines Vacuum Piping System w/ Pressure Transducer & Thermocouple Jack Panel Your Composite Curing Oven Specialists Wisconsin Oven Premium Data Acquisition and Control System

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