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Intelligent GPS on the Autobahn
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Last year, I prepared myself thoroughly for driving in Germany. I brought along Google directions for every stop on the way. Everything worked beautifully until I was caught in a one-and-a-half-hour stop on the Autobahn due to roadwork. This year, my rental car happened to have a built-in GPS system, but not one that I had ever experienced before. For those of you more technically advanced than me, please bear with me as I extol in this technological wonder. While I was driving toward my destination in accordance with the running GPS instructions, the GPS suddenly informed me that it was recalculating my route based on traffic congestions. It guided me along an alternative route to the airport without any of the devastating delays of the previous year. The GPS system in my rental car was receiving real-time traffic updates constantly, enabling it to navigate around congested areas.
This technology fascinates me not only because of its sophistication, but also because of the enormous benefits and value that it provides. It saves people time and aggravation. It may prevent drivers from being late for their appointments or, in my case a flight. And, who knows, it may even save gas since the car is not idling for hours in stop-and-go traffic. Somebody ought to calculate the potential productivity improvements in a country based on drivers using such an intelligent GPS system.
Then it dawned on me: This is the perfect analogy for a modern thermal profiler and real-time process management system. As opposed to the passive profilers that essentially simply draw a map of the current terrain (time/temperature profile), the data intelligent profiler acts as a GPS system by offering the following:
• current location and desired destination, in what profile you want to achieve;• automatically shows how to reach said desired destination, just as a profiler shows exactly what zone temperatures and conveyor speeds are required;• automatically and in real time provides alerts of any bottlenecks along the way, the "traffic problems" of a profile drifting out of spec, etc.
In other words, the profiler will first measure the time/temperature profile and how well it fits the available process window. Next, it will search all available oven recipes and select the most appropriate to put the profile in the sweet spot of the process window and production starts. During production, the automatic profiling system ? in the background ? will check that all profiles stay in spec. If something happens, the driver (excuse me, technician) will be automatically alerted in order to adjust the oven set points prior to continuing production.
Just like the GPS, a data intelligence profiler saves time (including the costly production downtime) and aggravation, and it will make sure that you reach your destination (product quality and production productivity). Like my intelligent GPS, once you try it you will wonder why you have not taken advantage of this technology sooner. Now, if the modern profiler could only help save gas as well.
Bjorn Dahle, president, may be contacted at KIC, 15950 Bernardo Center Drive, #E, San Diego, Calif. 92127; (858) 673.6050; Fax: (858) 673.0085; bjorn@kicmail.com; www.kicthermal.com.