Developing an on-line monitoring and quality assurance system for Expanded Polypropylene process

Polycon是一家位于安大略省圭尔夫的大型汽车工厂。它是麦格纳外部部门的一部分，专门制造基于聚合物的身体部件，如筋膜。它有大约1400名员工。其核心业务包括塑料、EPP[发泡聚丙烯]、碳纤维模塑、油漆和组装。EPP部门通过使用蒸汽和卧式成型机将原始珠子熔化成几何形状来制造吸能器和座椅产品。成品从机器中排出，并随机落在传送带上，传送带将部件送到操作员手中。操作员的功能包括分拣、检查、向钢轨和从钢轨运送零件以及打包。检验方面确保所生产的部件符合客户指定的适当重量和尺寸要求。EPP部门每年生产数百万个零件。 目前的质量控制状态是被动的。在成型过程的每个阶段(灌装、蒸、冷却)跟踪和记录制造过程参数，并在检查过程中发现缺陷后根据需要手动调整。被跟踪的大量变量使得人类不可能识别可能导致生产劣质部件的负面趋势和异常。该项目的目标是开发一种过程监测的自动化实时系统，该系统可以预测最终产品的质量，而不需要人工检查。在以后的阶段，系统将实时监控工艺，并在可能的情况下提供纠正措施，以避免生产有缺陷的部件。这种主动的质量控制方法将对Polycon的质量保证和整体生产效率产生重大的积极影响。

Polycon is a major automotive plant located in Guelph, Ontario. It is part of Magna Exterior division and specializes in manufacturing polymer based body parts like fascia. It has around 1400 employees. Its core competencies include plastic, EPP [expanded polypropylene], carbon fibre moulding, painting, and assembly. The EPP department manufactures energy absorbers and seating products by fusing raw beads into geometric shapes using steam and horizontal molding machines. The finished product is ejected from the machine and falls randomly onto a conveyor which brings the parts to an operator. The operator function includes sorting, inspecting, and transporting parts to and from rails, and packing. The inspection aspect ensures that parts produced are within proper weight and dimensional requirements as specified by the customer. The EPP department produces several million parts per year. The current state of quality control is reactive. The manufacturing process parameters are tracked and recorded at each stage of the moulding process (filling, steaming, cooling), and are manually adjusted as necessary after defects have been found during the inspection process. The large number of variables being tracked makes it impossible for a human to identify negative trends and anomalies that can lead to the production of a poor quality part. The objective of this project is to develop an automated real-time system for process monitoring that can predict the quality of the end product eliminating the need for manual inspection. At a later stage, the system will monitor the process in real-time and provide, if possible, corrective measures to avoid producing a defective part. This proactive approach to quality control would have a significant positive impact on Polycon's quality assurance and overall production efficiency.