| IncoTest, a division of Special Metals Wiggin Limited a PCC company, based in the UK, provides a high quality and cost effective materials testing service and probably has the best equipped laboratories in the world. Located in Hereford, England, IncoTest supplies high integrity data to globally leading organisations in the Aerospace, Power Generation, Nuclear, Chemical, Automotive and Manufacturing Industries.
Offering a completely independent contract service, and operating 24 hours a day orders are processed as quickly as possible to meet the growing demand of its customers.
In 1979 Zwick sold the first 200kN tensile testing machine to Incotest (then Wiggin Alloys). Testing high tensile strength nickel alloys at that time in a three shift system using a Hewlett Packard computerised testing machine with fully automated digital extensometry was more than most companies could even dream of. As the business developed and other testing machines in the laboratory became old and troublesome they were replaced by more Zwick products.
The next to be replaced was an old Denison machine connected to a high temperature testing rig with a carousel system consisting of six furnaces. IncoTest purchased a new 200kN Zwick machine and integrated the existing furnaces and carousel system. In addition the temperature setpoints of the furnace controllers were automatically controlled by the Zwick PC software, and the temperature during the test was automatically recorded with the tensile test results.
When the control system of an old 600kN hydraulic Avery machine failed Zwick provided a standardised modernisation package using digital electronics. Everthing except the load frame was scrapped and replaced with state-of-the-art technology.
Later IncoTest added two RKP pendulum impact testers, one for EN100045 and one for ASTM E23 and a further two tensile testing machines in the laboratory.
General Manager, Ian Elliot explains “In 1999 the original tensile machine which had been operating continuously for twenty years required attention. The load frame was still in perfect condition but the electronics had to be replaced. We asked Zwick to modernize the system and a second high temperature carousel rig with eight furnaces was locally fabricated”.
Not content with having the latest hardware and testing software, IncoTest realised that efficient and traceable data was the key to their efficiency and hence competitiveness, so together with Zwick’s IT experts, they developed a completely integrated laboratory information management solution. Now, as each incoming test specimen is prepared in Incotest’s machine shop, its details are entered on to the main host computer system, and the specimen packet is automatically given a unique, and therefore traceable, barcode.
Each tensile test machine in the test laboratory runs Zwick’s testXpert® software and is also equipped with a barcode scanner. The operator simply scans each specimen packet, a similar process to that of a supermarket checkout, and testXpert® fetches all the relevant specimen data from the host computer together with the required test specification.
The test is carried out and the results are printed and automatically sent back to the host computer. Within seconds the operator is informed whether or not the specimen has passed or failed its specification limits. Once other data such as chemical analysis etc. have been recorded, and if all results are accepted, then the test certificate is printed and transmitted back the customer, and the data is archived in the host IT system. Should a specimen fail the tensile test, the operator is informed and can take the necessary action.
Section Head of Mechanical Testing, Steve Collins, acknowledges that “IncoTest is proud of the excellent relationship we have with Zwick which has enabled us to run what is probably one of the most technically advanced commercial testhouses in the world. What is even more revealing is that all of the functionality we required was integrated in the standard testXpert® software, and only required configuration on site. This is an indication of the power of testXpert®, and the excellent support from Zwick’s experts in understanding our vision and helping us to achieve it. With support from Zwick we were easily able to customize the system ourselves, something which I have never experienced with any other commercial testing system”.
As Steve further explains, “We benefit from having one commercial software interface to all of our laboratory personnel which brings significant benefits in reduced training and support costs. It allows us to update the system whenever we want and to have much more flexibility in allocating human resources to match the varying demand in test throughput. Human errors are virtually eliminated fom the complete testing process, which is an extremely important consideration when you are one of the very few NADCAP accredited laboratories in the UK”.
IncoTest is approved for testing to Rolls-Royce, Pratt and Whitney, General Electric, Nadcap, SNECMA, and MTU. It is also a UKAS accredited laboratory. For more information please visit www.incotest.co.uk. |
