Autoliv ( www.autoliv.com) is the worldwide leading manufacturer of automotive safety components. With its pioneering technology in seatbelts, airbags, and active safety systems they supply every automotive manufacturer in the world from more than 80 subsidiaries and joint ventures in over 30 countries.
Reliable and traceable test data is always paramount in quality testing environments, and never more so than when human safety is involved. As we drive with our families on today's high speed road networks it is very reassuring to know that companies such as Autoliv take responsibility for our well being.
Quality control testing machines have traditionally been used as stand alone equipment - disconnected from the data management or quality assurance system. Until quite recently closing the loop was the job of the lab technician or machine operator. For companies such as Autoliv, this was not sufficient so they decided to use qs-STAT, by Q-DAS (www.q-das.com). This software has been developed specifically for quality management applications in the automotive industry, and one aspect of particular importance is the possibility to exchange data between the different systems in a standardized way.
Zwick is reported to be the only supplier of testing equipment to integrate the special qs-STAT interface into its materials testing software. With three easy steps (see screenshots) testXpert® enables bi-directional data transfer between the two packages and ensures that, before the test is carried out, all relevant control data for the testing machine has been downloaded from qs-STAT. This avoids typing errors, duplicate processes and eliminates set-up errors.
At the end of the test, the test results are automatically transmitted back to qs-STAT in a special format for the subsequent statistical evaluations.
Mrs Dr. Astrid Ruck (Statistical Expert) at Autoliv explains, "Since installing this system all information is acquired only once. As a consequence typing errors have been eliminated. The main benefit of the automatic transfer is the online process control. Hence, the increased reliability of our data acquisition system helped to develop our data flow concept. Zwick were very professional in their approach to our application and the support we received has helped us to maximize quality and throughput of our testing equipment."
Already installed on more than 80 testing machines in 50 companies worldwide, Zwick has once again demonstrated its ability to develop leading technology and help its customers to become more competitive in today's global economy. | |
