Digital transformation of sheet metal business traceability for the nuclear market
Who is CAMFIL ?
CAMFIL FRANCE- manufacturer of air filtration solutions,
nuclear sector, 30 production sites worldwide,
3 production sites in France
Challenges: Documentary compliance and search for adapted office tools
As part of the world’s leading manufacturer of air filtration solutions, CAMFIL France places great emphasis on the quality of its products, especially those for the nuclear sector. In this highly regulated field, customers expect their suppliers of nuclear filtration solutions to be transparent and rigorous in the traceability of the equipment delivered.
Responding to quality and safety issues, the documentary traceability of equipment manufactured by CAMFIL France is essential. However, this follow-up can be ” time-consuming to manage on a daily basis “, explains Alexandre Kurzer, IWT / QSE technician and SIRFULL Welding referent at CAMFIL France.
For each order, the document tracking system traces the Welding Operations Mode Areas (WPS) and the Welding Operations Mode Qualifications (PQR) in Excel or PDF files, in order to make the link between the Welders Qualifications (WPQR) and the cahier de soudage Nevertheless, ” We are seeing customer feedback. These returns are due to the repetitive nature of these monitoring tasks and the multitude of data editing tools used (EXCEL, WORD, PDF…).
To ensure that documentation work does not come at the expense of welding know-how, ” we set out to find a professional and easy-to-use software solution to modernize the traceability of our business. “
Course of the project and use of the Welding Cloud tool
In 2017, CAMFIL France deploys Welding Cloud on the sheet metal part positioned on the supply of nuclear equipment. Indeed, ” customers in this sector are demanding robust quality monitoring. “
Prior to the launch, the user team received training and support for the recovery of historical data (more than 70 PQR, 300 WPS and WPQR). Following these steps, CAMFIL France was able to recover its welding skills in the online digital work environment and edit the content of a customer project from a web browser.
In the solution, the welding coordinator can detail all the preparatory steps for the manufacturing of the equipment: drafting of the Operating Procedures, management of the company’s qualifications and welders’ certificates, location of the welds on the equipment plan, import of the certificates of the materials used…. More precisely, ” the welding traceability in sheet metal work is established by different authorized persons in the Welding Cloud solution “, explains Alexandre Kurzer. These users can synthesize this information and export it to a customizable cahier de soudage in PDF format.
In addition, the welding coordinator and the project management team can collaboratively manage a manufacturing project through to delivery using a weld scheduling and non-destructive testing table.
Using the production data, the company can produce a final work file (or Manufacturing Data Report) with the content and format expected by the client. This document provides valuable information for the commissioning of the device (controls carried out, non-conformities detected and corrective actions, consumables used…).
In order to personalize the tool in the long term, SIRFULL integrates new WPS frames and specific welding booklets at the request of CAMFIL France. All these updates are done remotely thanks to the SIRFULL Welding CLOUD.
Results and future of the project
Welding quality is not the business of one person, but of a whole team. In fact, the welding coordinators working in SIRFULL Welding give good results in
in terms of “saving autonomy and time” thanks to better coordination of preparation, welding and follow-up tasks.
” The tool was adopted very quickly by all the business managers.
The latter can collaborate with the coordination team on projects, and consult and update documents in the file from the common environment.
In addition, Welding Cloud provides better visibility on welding quality management during audits; the digital support allows to easily read and share WPS, PQR, WPQR as well as all consumable and material certificates.
According to Alexandre Kurzer, “ the tool constitutes a real competitive advantage ” in a market where not all manufacturers are able to reconcile respect for standards, compliance and responsiveness.
Also, the digital transformation operated by CAMFIL France clears the way towards the ISO 3834 certification; a new asset for its competitiveness. In addition, Welding Cloud will be able to help CAMFIL France to promote its welding quality system to future auditors.
