SCSExtrude

More Effective Management of the Extrusion Process From Start to Finish

Looking for a way to cut down on downtime, reduce labor costs, and achieve consistently high-quality profiles? Granco Clark’s SCSExtrude software system manages the extrusion process from start to finish, cutting operator intervention—and human error—to an absolute minimum.

The system operates from an industrial PC workstation with a touch screen, in the user-friendly environment of Microsoft Windows NT/2000/XP. It automatically tracks and diagnoses faults, executes production schedules, loads equipment parameters and recipes, and logs production data—and that translates into lower labor costs as well as increased accuracy and consistency.

Advanced Fault Diagnostics

SCSExtrude’s state-of-the-art alarm diagnostics ensure that potential problems are identified quickly. The system monitors each piece of equipment in the extrusion line, detecting and diagnosing faults to reduce downtime.

When a fault is identified, SCSExtrude provides detailed images of the alarm source and step-by-step troubleshooting instructions to help you get straight to the source of the problem. In addition, the system stores the alarm history, providing details on any previous problems.

Automatic Equipment Setup

With SCSExtrude, you can download the production schedule from an office system or input it directly on the plant floor. All operating parameters can be set ahead of time, then loaded with a single push of a button when the job is run. As work orders move through the system from station to station, SCSExtrude sets up each piece of equipment automatically.

“This reduces setup time and guesswork and improves consistency, so you get higher-quality product,” says Jeff Ryan, Granco Clark product manager for SCSExtrude.

Minimized Manual Tracking

With SCSExtrude, manual entry of information can be greatly reduced or eliminated entirely. No longer do you need to record data like start and stop times of work orders, number of billets extruded, or good finished pieces produced per shift—SCS

Extrude keeps track of it all. It records all of this information automatically as jobs are run and reports real-time information. Data is easily accessible in a relational database, as well as via industry-standard reporting tools such as Crystal Reports.

Easy Access to Information

A personal web application running on the SCSExtrude system allows you to view a real-time schedule from any web browser in your organization. SCSExtrude is also fully supported by Granco Clark’s modem support program, ensuring that any problems that arise are solved as soon as possible.

Seamless Interface with EPICS

Although SCSExtrude is a stand-alone solution, we’ve built in an interface to Foy Inc.’s EPICS, the industry’s leading extrusion-management software. This feature helps to create a seamless link between the plant floor and the office.

An EPICS production schedule can be downloaded to SCSExtrude; then SCSExtrude collects production data as the EPICS work orders are run. As work orders are actually completed, they are posted real-time to EPICS from a workstation at the finish saw, needing no data entry.