Databases

A large system will need some place to hold data gathered during production. This data is vital for improving product quality, calculating inventory requirements, or even protecting against possible product liability claims. Large amounts of data, especially if collected quickly, need to be recorded in a way that makes retrieval and analysis quick and painless.

A database meets the requirements for data storage and retrieval. Typical databases, especially those based on Structured Query Language (SQL), are easy to work with and take up very little storage space. Data can be compressed and stored as fast as it is collected, and can then be replayed and studied at any time in the future. As cost effective as computer power and disk storage have become, it is becoming popular to have an entire machine devoted to the collection and archiving of data.

Most of the systems that ASI now install have a very fast database as an integral part of their design. Once set up, the database can be used for any number of analysis. Once a customer discovers the advantage of having his previous data always available, he begins to think of even more possible applications. Imagine being able to go back in time, as it were, and carefully study an individual cycle of an extruder, or see why a piece of equipment failed, or determine if a new process had the positive effects that were expected.

In addition to using databases to store and retrieve manufacturing data, ASI has done applications which used databases for entirely different reasons, such as overtime requests and equipment simulators.

Real-time databases are not just for storage of production parameters. They are becoming invaluable as a standardized method of recording almost every detail of the manufacturing process.