Development of a laboratory entry system

Abstract

Quality management is one of the hardest tasks on any manufacturing process. Often quality control focuses on checking that the end product complies with its specifications, even though the real problems are somewhere in the manufacturing process. Thus, the most efficient method for successful quality management is to monitor, control and improve the process itself.

Challenges in quality management have also been recognized in pulp industry, where the process is monitored continuously by taking measurements with automatic analyzers. Some process attributes, however, need to be monitored by a laboratory, which takes periodic samples, analyzes them and inserts results to database for further inspection. One of the most important monitoring methods where analyses can be utilized is statistical process control (SPC), where collected data is used with statistical methods for determining the process state.

The goal of this thesis work was to implement a new application for Valmet Automation with main focus on supporting laboratory work by providing features for inserting analysis values and monitoring the process with integrated SPC features. Research done during the thesis work included reviewing the theory of SPC, interviewing selected pulp mill laboratory staff members and Valmet employees, and finally exploring suitable development techniques for the application.

The results chapter consists of the general overview and validation of the application and evaluation of the development project as a whole. Finally, some of the most important future development tasks were planned to be done after the thesis project was concluded.