New USTER® QUALITY EXPERT standalone version

Uster Technologies launches a new standalone version of USTER® QUALITY EXPERT which leverages the value of USTER® instruments to significant profitability gains. Connecting to USTER® QUALITY EXPERT enables flexible and fact-based responses to the changing business environment. With the new standalone version, a relatively small investment means cotton spinners can optimise costs in tougher times – and maximise profits when markets recover.

USTER is opening the door to advanced quality and process optimization – making its unique Quality Management Platform available to a much wider range of yarn manufacturers. Until now, USTER® QUALITY EXPERT has been exclusively hosted within USTER® TESTER 6. The new USTER® QUALITY EXPERT standalone version is targeted at textile mills which do not yet own the USTER® TESTER 6 but have invested in at least one modern USTER® instrument – such as the USTER® QUANTUM 3, for example. The new offering helps users to benefit from automated quality management capabilities, powered by USTER’s well known application intelligence, with minimum investment. The value is then expanded in future with every additional product connected.

The launch is part of the company’s vision to extend its Think Quality concept further across the textile community, using fact-based quality management. The standalone and the USTER® TESTER 6 hosted version share the same newly updated software release, featuring many improvements.

Both USTER® QUALITY EXPERT versions deliver uncompromising standards in ultimate analysis, unique Value Modules and fault prevention mechanisms. Exploring vast optimization possibilities with total transparency becomes easier than ever.

Remote control
The role of accurate data in the production environment is growing, alongside the need for maximum flexibility. Businesses have to be ready with effective short-term planning – especially when markets today are as unstable as people’s health. Sudden changes in regulations might call for urgent actions, which could even decide on the continuing viability of a business.

USTER® QUALITY EXPERT enables informed decision-making. The new standalone version offers the same value-added reports, based on combined data from laboratory instruments and in-line monitoring systems. Remote access to production information, whenever and wherever needed, keeps users in the picture 24/7.

Spinners can connect the USTER® MOBILE ALERTS app to USTER® QUALITY EXPERT and control mill operations from their mobile phones. It allows alarms to be managed ‘in the pocket’ – so users can stay safe and still control important production factors during the months under the ‘new normal’ conditions. The remote features will also be vital in driving a business upswing in future.

More automation
As each connected instrument joins the Quality Management Platform™, USTER® QUALITY EXPERT expands its intelligence for fault prevention and assured quality. Each Value Module of USTER® QUALITY EXPERT helps to automate costly tasks, prevent faults and drive higher process performance to the required quality levels, constantly and reliably.

Applying the same data ‘language’ throughout the mill fosters common understanding. Mill managers, quality managers, operators and other personnel benefit from the well-established Value Modules such as the Alarm Center – creating awareness and triggering action. The Mill Analysis module provides insightful analytics for data-based decisions, and Yarn Prognosis uses an easy-to-read grading system to predict yarn quality for subsequent processing and to prevent claims. The latest release features additional highlights, including a new dashboard design, a bar chart alternative to the ‘spider’ quality charts and improvements to the Mill Analysis module.

Information worth every cent
Flexibility in a spinning business also means taking every possible chance to save costs: waste reduction, power optimization and ultimately to obtain maximum value out of costly raw material while meeting quality requirements. Control of key quality indicators, and analysis enabling correlative actions, are part of the Total Contamination Control (TCC) and Ring Spinning Optimization (RSO) Value Modules.

TCC combines data from USTER® QUANTUM 3 yarn clearers and USTER® JOSSI VSION SHIELD fiber cleaning to give spinners precise control over contamination levels in yarns. Interaction between initial control at fiber cleaning and final control at winding makes it possible to balance ejections and clearer cuts. When connecting USTER® QUANTUM 3 and USTER® SENTINEL to USTER® QUALITY EXPERT, mills can intelligently correlate ring quality data and winding quality, for ultimate control over productivity and quality. RSO also enables higher spinning performance while optimizing cop build-up.

Stay safe in business
Maintaining partnerships with spinning mills worldwide for more than 70 years, USTER understands exactly the challenges they face. To enable even faster response to any quality deviations, USTER further developed the Alarm Center Value Module. The latest release of USTER® QUALITY EXPERT indicates whether a deviation appears in a critical range or in a positive range. This additional information saves time when immediate corrective actions are needed – as well as allowing best management and leveraged improvements in positive cases.

USTER’s ambition to support business profitability is as well-known as its dedication to quality. This is a good moment to launch a system which helps yarn producers overcome problems in these crisis-hit times. Remote data access enables mills to make critical decisions now – and will boost success factors at the first signs of an upswing. Flexibility is a primary benefit spinners can achieve with USTER® QUALITY EXPERT Standalone: “We believe that USTER® QUALITY EXPERT – in the hosted and standalone versions – is the solution helping to secure business now and in the future. It provides the opportunity for any spinner to benefit from smart quality management from the initial investment – and then harvest additional value with each expansion into further quality control tools,” says Sivakumar Narayanan, Executive Vice President and Head of Marketing & Business Development, Uster Technologies.