Friday, May 04, 2012

European Plexus Manufacturing Facility Update – Process Control

Focus on Process Control

Hello again from the Plexus manufacturing team, here in Shannon. I would like to talk more about the Plexus manufacturing practices & the process control mechanisms implemented during an average day of production. The production of the Plexus 1:1 adhesives & activators is a complex and involved process but certain mechanisms of the process in particular require specific attention due to their critical nature. These mechanisms have been identified as Critical Process Parameters or CPP’s & they are labelled as such in the batch record. By using the CPP’s as a procedural tool it not only informs the Operator but it also gives the Operator a better understanding of the process & indeed the products themselves.
The CPP’s ultimately highlight functions of the manufacturing process both physical & chemical; which may impact the overall quality of the product. Using these CPP’s as a lead, we have installed a Datalogging system which monitors product temperature, vessel pressures & mixer blade RPM speeds – all CPP’s.
The dataTakker – Delogger Version 5 has been installed to give greater control of the manufacturing process & as an instrument in maintaining the production of a high quality product.
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The data collected can be used to trend the process parameters & analyses product behaviour; data which can be used for qualitative & quantitative process improvements.  The dataTakker – Delogger Version 5 also has an online facility which allows for remote monitoring of the process via the internet from anywhere in the plant or indeed the world!
In addition all process scales & balances are also logged. All weights of raw materials & final product are logged using software supplied by Avery Weigh Tronix. Again, this gives us instant process data which is critical to final product quality & greater stock control.


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Posted by PaulColes , Chemical Process Engineer, Shannon, County Clare, Ireland
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