FAQ

In our FAQ we answer your questions about our software solutions:

QS-Torque – our software for quality assurance in production

Can I only plan, carry out and evaluate bolting position tests and bolting tool tests?

No, with additional modules you can also collect test data for other measurement units or attribute tests (manual input).

We can even offer you a rivet tester for riveting points and riveting tools.

Why does a bolting position with an assigned tool not arrive at the test bench via Client servers?

It is likely that the station assignment was not placed. This tells QS-Torque which station the bolting position tool assignment should be transmitted to in order for it to be available there for tests.

In QS-Torque, a test tool data set cannot be deleted. Why?

If the tool was assigned at a bolting position and / or if there have been tests you can only delete the data set when the bolting position has been deleted.

IPM – our software for administration and analysis of your process data

IPM is a standard product. Are there any adjustment / extension options?

Yes! We have a wide range of functionalities and modules for our systems which cover most of the requirements our potential and new clients inquire about. But there are still always new topics that require an extension of our product. Thereby we specifically respond to clients’ wishes, consider the demands in the overall concept and extend the system, if possible, in a way so that all our clients can use it. That way all IPM users benefit from new requests.

Special requests which are only relevant for the respective client will also be implemented in the product but will only be made available for that client through the modular structure.

Why does measurement data / process data have to be documented in general? Are status values not sufficient?

Measurement data / process data has to be documented for several reasons. First, there may be legal provisions with regards to product liability that require documentation. Second, in-house quality guidelines can only be met with detailed data documentation. The quality of products and processes can only be kept on a high level if they are constantly monitored and improved. Status values are usually not sufficient to get an impression of the current quality status. In addition, status values do not indicate how this status came to be (OK, NOK). For this purpose, detailed process values are required in order to understand, why a component was rated OK or NOK. In the field of bolting technology, even curves are necessary to evaluate certain problematic situations and to derive corresponding measures.

Why is component tracing necessary?

There are several scenarios. Primarily, a life cycle file should be available for every assembled product. The requirements are always the same:

Values the component was produced / assembled with during the relevant process steps
Which additional parts were installed?
Which supplier assembled components when and with what batch/part/serial number?

A proper component tracing can only be ensured if these values are sufficiently documented. In case of product recalls, affected components can be specifically searched. IPM offers all of those functionalities.

Can IPM also be used in production outside of the automobile industry?

Yes, IPM can be used for all processes. No matter what kind of measurement and process values there are, IPM can record and visualize them in evaluations/reports.

IPM PG – our software for guiding your production workers

What does a worker guidance do?

A worker guidance (worker assistance system or assembly assistance system) accompanies your employees step by step with clearly arranged on-screen instructions and visualizes every single process step, if desired. Which information you want to give your workers at which process step is something that you can define for yourself. Moreover, with our worker guidance, for example, position detection of a tool in three-dimensional space is possible, as well as pick-to-light. IPM PG will guide your workers through the most diverse production processes like riveting, tightening or filling.

When does it make sense to use a worker guidance in production/assembly?

A software for supporting assembly sequences especially makes sense if, e.g. there are new or amended processes in the production. These changes often complicate the work routine of the respective workers. In many cases, however, new workers simply lack the experience, practiced workers overlook recently made changes in the assembly sequences and use the wrong parts or work instructions on paper are worn and hard to read. In these cases, you can achieve many improvements with visualized instructions.

What saving potential does a worker guidance offer?

Especially when processes in assembly change frequently and instructions or elaborate training for your employees would be necessary, the saving potential of both time and money can be tremendously high. The later errors in the assembly process are detected, the more complicated the rework. Immediate information by an IT solution enable a prompt correction of errors. Moreover, automated documentation of process steps renders manual documentation unnecessary. The same is true for researching process information, which is also carried out automatically with a worker guidance software.

CHRONOS – our software for archiving databases

Why do you have to archive databases?

According to a study of Forrester Research 85% of all data in a productive database are inactive. If you export exactly these data onto a cheaper storage media, this releases your data base, keeps your system high-performance and saves costs.

Which types of archiving are there?

In its core, electronic archiving includes three distinctly separate ideas: e-mail archiving, document management (DMS) and database archiving. The basis for all archiving types is the precondition to store electronic data in a revision-proof way based on different laws or standards.

E-mail archiving

In e-mail archiving, electronic messages including any attachments are stored audit-proof according to several laws, i.e. in an unalterable way and for the long term. To do this, the messages are deleted from the mail server and stored in a separate system. Result: The mail server and the connected clients are relieved to a great degree.

Database archiving (DB archiving)

To achieve a cost reduction in the storage area of databases is a very difficult objective and requires a standardized database archiving solution like CHRONOS. In database archiving, the savings potential is many times greater than in document management or e-mail archiving systems, since the reduction of database size automatically leads to a major shrinking of index areas and backup files. Moreover, the times required for recreating a database in case of error that are stipulated in “quality-of-service-agreements” can be much more easily met.
However, in product support and in the media, the issue of database archiving is still a seldom one. This might be due to the complexity of the problem. Yet precisely when it comes to storage management or backup and recovery processes, standard tools like CHRONOS take the work out of the hands of people responsible for databases so that they may concentrate on the more essential aspects of their job.
In conclusion, it can be said that, compared with classic ECM issues like e-mail or document archiving, database archiving has a higher complexity, but the ROI can also be reached faster and more clearly.

DMS

Systems for document management (DMS) support companies in storing the enormous torrents of electronic documents researchable and pursuant to the ILM concept (information lifecycle management concept) on the individually most suitable medium. In doing this, apart from the documents and description data, so-called meta data are stored in order to make the search for information more efficient. Most of the recent systems also implement functions to recognize duplicates in order to minimize the memory consumption. Economic efficiency is achieved by the systems described above by relieving the productive systems and by storing rarely needed, historical data on cost-efficient storage areas.

Why are backups not sufficient as archiving procedure?

If you archive data, these data should be readable within the next years or decades – without complications and quickly. But the focus of a backup is the fast re-import of data a short time after the backup has been run. For the best work of databases both should be done: backup and archiving. Backups are for short-term recovery of data and archiving releases the databases and guarantees re-importing even after changes of the structure.

How large must a database be that archiving amortises the expenditure?

To answer this question we developed the CHRONOS Calculator to calculate your costs savings.
Find it in our downloads.

Is it possible to access data that has been archived?

Yes, it is.
You can access your data very easily by SQL- queries or keywords. If needed, you can re-import your archived data into your system. In addition to that, you can integrate the access to archived data into your own application by Webservice or Java RMI. Chronos also offers tools with which you can access your data.

FAQ