Squirrel helps Bomford Turner cut costs and deliver better quality Agricultural Machinery

Bomford Turner Ltd, the Evesham-based manufacturer of large agricultural mowers, hedge trimmers and verge cutters, received an unexpected bonus when they bought their first Squirrel OQ606 oven logger from Grant Instruments (Cambridge) Ltd.

Not only have they been able to improve the quality of the paint cure on equipment they manufacture, but the Squirrel has helped identify substantial efficiency and cost saving measures in the manufacturing process.

The new Squirrel comes complete with the Grant Instruments Paintwise software and six sensors, which monitor heat and time and calculate the percentage cure for each thickness of metal automatically.

The OQ606 processes data eight times faster with twice the accuracy of almost anything else on the market. Bomford Turner is making full use of the Paintwise software to accommodate paint types and manufacturer cure specifications.

Each oven logger probe samples the temperature of the curing paint up to eight times a second while the majority of competitors can only sample once a second. The OQ606 records data within a tolerance of plus or minus 0.5C twice as accurate as most of the competition.

The OQ606 is the first logger to offer alphanumeric readings direct from each of the six probes. This enables the operator to see at a glance whether paint has been oven cured within the correct tolerances. For instance, if a particular paint in a particular oven needs to be cured at 180C for 10 minutes but the probes are recording that the paint only reached that temperature for eight minutes, it is easy to see that it is only 80% cured and accurate adjustments can be made rapidly.

The ability to make such adjustments quickly means Bomford Turner is not wasting time, money, paint and products while the operator experiments with different oven configurations.

The alphanumeric readings from each probe have an additional advantage for the operator they record any hot or cold spots within the oven. This has proved particularly useful to Bomford Turner who are using these results to monitor the efficiency and shortcomings of their oven. As a direct result, the company is set to make substantial savings in its gas consumption.

In addition, the software enables the operator to accurately experiment with curing times and temperatures to achieve the required finish. The logger can be programmed to automatically compare the results against four pre-set time/temperature thresholds.

The OQ606 can be hooked directly into an A4 printer to deliver colour or black and white data in graphic form within 50 seconds. The size and the quality of the A4 print-outs promote better record keeping of the production process.

Bomford Turner can now plug the logger into a PC and more detailed information downloaded for closer analysis.

Keith Stubbs at Bomford Turner said: "We are delighted with our compact Squirrel oven logger. It is fast, accurate and plays a major part in our quality control processes.

"A surprising bonus as far as we are concerned has been the logger's ability to identify areas where we can improve the efficiency of the oven. It has enabled us to deliver a consistently high quality product to our customers."

Mike Pisapia, Divisional Director for Grant Instruments (Cambridge) Ltd, said:

"We believe we have created the most advanced, most user-friendly, and most versatile oven logger on the market."