P. Weymer, Ipsen, Inc., Cherry Valley, IL

Summary: The flexibility of a batch furnace line presents certain advantages over pushers or other continuous furnaces. Advanced software and controls allow the furnace to mostly control and monitor itself, with little operator intervention. Lights-out operation enables productivity even during unattended periods. A modular production software provides ideal prerequisites for the "transparent heat treat shop". What is now the 4th generation of this software family allows all processes of a modern heat-treatment center to be identified, controlled, analyzed and documented. Its three software areas available are Process, Production, and Administration. All three areas function completely independently and none require software from the other areas. When combined to form a whole, these software products provide the best possible benefits. The Process Software includes the programs, which control, monitor and optimize furnace operation as well as record furnace data. The second area, Production, has been subdivided into two sections, production technology and production automation. The process control system part of the production technology section combines different types of heat treatment plants featuring technology to form a single logical working group. This provides a summary of all technical information relating to a purchase order and the specified heat treatment results. The program provides the user with support for batch assembly, administers furnace programs, and ensures full recording of all relevant process data. The production automation module designed for controlling automated atmosphere and vacuum furnace lines. It comprises a modular software component for controlling individual furnaces in automated furnace lines, allowing un-manned operation for a limited time period. In the third area, Administration Software controls and monitors the entire administrative requirements of a hardening shop. This support begins with quotation management and continues upon receipt of incoming goods, order logging and processing to quality control management, the dispatch of finished goods and invoicing. From start to finish, detailed information on the status of each order can be obtained at any time. With the objective of reducing costs and improving transparency, the software family processes all data for: „Xproduction planning „Xcapacity utilization „Xfault analysis „Xoperating cost analysis „Xpersonnel planning „Xmaintenance planning