SPC software
Statistical Process Control

During the first quarter of 2021, we deployed the Ellistat SPC tool on all our production lines (8 stations) and in the quality control laboratory (4 stations). We already had long experience of using SPC software. The Ellistat application is more user-friendly and easier to use than our old tool, especially for the parameterization part (creation of sites, workshops, machines and parts (we have a lot of references to manage and the duplication was a great help)). The Ellistat team helped us in this implementation phase thanks to their accessibility, competence and responsiveness (and their sympathy). Even if Davy sometimes "pulled his hair out", improvements to meet our own needs were quickly implemented, and others are planned with the Ellistat team.

Equipping our workshops with Automated Process Control via Ellistat has radically changed the way we set up and operate our machines. We can now develop a new, more dynamic and efficient culture of variability control, with tangible results in terms of quality and productivity. Production staff gain real working comfort, and we can easily envisage greater complexity - the possibilities are enormous!

At LISI's Melisey site, the Ellistat APC module interfaces with LISI's MES, and corrections are transferred directly to the multispindles. The implementation is fast and the software is intuitive to use. The LISI team was pleasantly surprised by how the APC module was able to render the manufacturing process autonomous. Adjustment used to require several iterations, consuming several parts to reach the required level. Now, a single part is enough. The saving in set-up time achieved by using APC represents around 75%. By January 2021, the scrap rate had fallen from 3.5% to less than 0.1%. This is because the algorithm auto-corrects the machine tool in near-real time as soon as it deviates, resulting in a reduction in scrap rate of around 95 %. In early 2021, the APC solution was deployed on some twenty CNC machines of different brands and generations. Deployment is rapid, requiring little hardware and investment.

All you have to do is measure the part, enter the data into the APC, which automatically makes all the corrections at once. This makes the employees' work much easier. Before APC, if the drift remained within tolerance, the setter had two options: recenter the dimension or leave it within the acceptable limit. With APC, the dimension is always centred. We've achieved our quality objective and improved our productivity: set-up time has fallen by around 50%, and the company's overall scrap rate by around 30%.

With the implementation of APC on our multispindle lathes, we have achieved very convincing gains on several levels: reduced machine downtime, improved OEE and a clear reduction in the scrap rate. What's more, our scrap rate has fallen from 4% to 1.5%, and we can now space out inspection times, as the software guarantees us stability in machine variability.