1 What makes this better than what I'm doing now?

1. How does our system reduce scrap in composites manufacturing?

   Making composite parts is complex. In our manufacturing history, we've seen the same avoidable issues arise repeatedly and we've had our fair share of avoidable mistakes. When you read through the FAQ, you will be able to see how we help you make better parts, and have less issues leading to scrap parts. To do this, we have created a system with three combined approaches. Firstly we have created our "on the workbench" digital assistant, secondly coupled with an array of affordable smart-sensors, chosen for the process you are doing, and finally an online portal to display all your, warnings, and historic manufacturing data of your parts. Combining all three approaches gives you the assurance that your part will be to specification. This saves you time, money and reduces reputational risk.

2. Why is it better than a standard digital gauge?

   There’s a lot of risk involved in using non-smart gauges. We took the view that they give you data, but they don’t give you help such as warnings and running your pump if needed. They add no intelligence and leave the stress to you. Risk also comes in to the human factor in using ordinary digital gauges because they have small difficult-to-read displays which frequently aren't backlit. To counteract this, we use a large touch-screen showing your vacuum (both as a number, and a vertical indicator bar). We also incorporate other useful information on othe display, such as barometric compensation and any temperatures you're interested in. We also show if you have our automatic pump controller installed and if the pump is running. All this data means you can keep a historic log to perform post-production analysis and make the most from your system.

3. Why should I care about logging?

   When someone takes on our system for the first time, there are four stages to getting the most out of it and logging is crucial:

   • Introduction to Service (IOS). You've got it plugged in and working as a baseline.
   • Initial Operating Capability (IOC): You're using the system to monitor and control your process and using the data to improve it.
   • Full Operating Capability (FOC): With the new data and real time control you have to hand you you get new deep insight into what’s happening in your composite process to start reducing risk and driving efficiencies.
   • Commercial Advantage: Your customers will really appreciate the manufacturing data you can give them for each part made and this sets you apart from your competition. You get better insight into your costs, which allows you to protect your margins and price accurately.

4. Do you help me with this?

   We will work with you through these four stages. It's crucial that you get the best ROI possible from your Smart Composite System. We will book a set of meetings with you to coach you, help you understand your data, and help you move through IOS, IOC, and FOC.

5. Does it add to my existing QA systems?

   We've been very careful to ensure our system sits along side your existing process and systems, not replace them. Our system is stand-alone and does not require any other systems. The data generated can be exported or integrated to your QA using industry-standard protocols or simple export-import.

6. What's my Return On Investment (ROI)?

   Spotting one vacuum leak or avoiding a part failure could more-than cover the systems costs for the year. When calculating ROI, don’t just consider the time and materials. Focus on the true impact — the lost profit and the cost of recovering it:

   • Suppose you make £250 profit on a £1000 part, and the part takes 1 day to make.
   • If a part fails or needs unplanned rework, you lose that £250 profit and absorb £750 in sunk cost (materials, time, labour).
   • To recover just the £750, you’d need to complete three additional jobs, each generating £250 profit.
   • In total, that’s four days lost: one for the failed job, and three more just to recoup the loss.
   • The real sting? That's four days lost with no forward progress. It also means you're £1000 out of pocket immediately and have to do 3 more days work to recover.
   • To cap it off, there's the reputational risk of being late on a delivery and having to deal with upset customers.

7. Does it give me a commercial advantage over my competition?

   Absolutely, in the following ways:

   • You are spending less time dealing with issues, and have great data to become more efficient.
   • You have a detailed log of every aspect of every part made (customers love this).
   • You have more accurate costs when pricing your jobs.
   • Your customers really appreciate the data on their parts (if you give it to them). This means they start favouring suppliers who have the best data.

8. I'm just a beginner – is this too much for me?

   Quite the opposite. Starting out in composites is a fantastic time, but there are a lot of hands-on skills you need to acquire (we liken it to being an engineer, a chemist, a baker, a tailor and may other disimilar professions). Having a digital technichan on your workbench giving you warnings and alerts (which you choose) helps you become an expert sooner and saves you in scrap materials as you learn. Our Smart Vacuum System is for everyone in the business.

2 How complicated is it?

1. Do I need to change my workshop or process to use this?

   No – we have taken great care to ensure that you can use the Smart Composite System to compliment what you are currently doing, rather than having to make major changes to your workshop or process. This makes it very quick and easy to adopt.

2. Is everything in the box to get started? Do I need to buy anything else?

   Everything to power-up and connect the system is included in the case. It's powered via a USB cable and we supply a power supply. If you have a USB power supply of the correct rating already available, you can delete the PSU from your order. We also include a test temperature probe so you can prove the system is working. We have sensor-bundles for your process, or you can mix-and-match sensors as you see fit.

3. Do I need an IT background to use it?

   Not at all. The system has a large, responsive touch-screen. It works like a smartphone. You can go from unboxing to using it in under 5 minutes.

4. Is there any complex setup?

   Your system works out of the box and is already set up. When we build it, it is pre-configured with all the necessary security certificates to immediately start uploading data. There are no tedious complex passwords to type in. Before your gauge ships, your online portal is commissioned as well. Just power, connect to Wi-Fi and go.

5. How hard is it to set an alert and warning, and what happens?

   We took the approach that you can set a warning (something is changing) and an alert (something is going wrong) with as few screen taps as possible. All alerts flash the bright LEDs and create warning sounds: Once triggered, the system will start flashing yellow for alerts or red for warnings. It also changes the display on the touch-screen dashboard so you can see the detail. As we mentioned above, all warnings and alerts are logged and go to your dashboard. You can display this live on a large screen from your online portal (via another computer).

6. Which other alerts I have?

   There are a comprehensive set of warning patterns. For instance, a warning flashes a block of LEDs yellow, but red flashes a different pattern of alternating LEDs, so you know at a glance what is happening. There's a different pattern and colour if a sensor is accidentally unplugged, and one if a low vacuum alert has started your vacuum pump running. We have a video here of the full led pattern test sequence to illustrate the richness of the alerts system.

7. What if I need an update or new feature?

   We do Over-The-Air (OTA) updates, just like your smart phone, computer, etc. If you need a new custom feature, just send us an email and we will let you know what we can do.

8. What happens if there's a power outage?

   Currently the system doesn't have battery backup built in. We recommend buying a cheap uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to give you this assurance if your building power is unreliable. As an example, a UPS costing around than £60 will give you 24 hours of running before any issues. If you have a freezer in which you keep your prepreg, your smart composite system can monitor the temperature and power to that, so you know if you've had an issue that affects the shelf-life of your very expensive prepreg.

9. What if my internet goes down?

   The system currently can buffer up to 1 hour of sensor readings (depending on the number of sensors) and replay them into your portal when your internet returns.

10. How does it connect to the internet?

    We currently connect via Wi-Fi. Ethernet connectivity is a future option if customers request it. We can configure your Wi-Fi connectivity credentials at the factory for you at no extra cost if you prefer.

11. How does it connect to my new online portal?

    We provision a secure cloud-based server for you which is not shared with any other company or individual (caveat our support team may need to access your data). Your data is encrypted in transit it to the portal.

12. How much data do I get?

    For a typical customer, with up to 12 sensors, we capture every sensor every second, and keep 3 months of data online for you. You can download and archive it whenever you want. If needed, we can provision many more months of online storage for you.

13. We have multiple stations in our workshop – how does it work?

    There are multiple ways you can configure this, and we will of course, happily talk you through the options for your best solution. We have given a couple of examples below to illustrate the flexibility you have:

    • Multiple benches, multiple technicians making parts – In this case we would recommend a smart composite system on each bench, with the right sensors for the work being done on that bench.
    • There's only me – Generally we would suggest a hub-and-spoke setup, where you have one smart composite system, and multiple sensors. If you need the a lot of sensors or a lot of range, you can daisy-chain them together (via our smart-hub).
    • Multiple Sites – Your data is organised by company, then site, then smart composite system, then job id (if you want to use that): you can easily see detail or big picture.

14. Do I have to do any pre-work checks to ensure things are working before I start?

    The system performs self-checks as it boots. Once booted you immediately start monitoring just where you left off.

3 How compatible is it with my existing setup?

1. Does it work with all vacuum pumps?

   Yes – the pump controller can control any single phase vacuum pump (up to the maximum rating of our pump controller)

2. Does it work with my existing moulds? do I need to change them?

   Yes – all our sensors can be taped in place on the mould and stack. You don't need to make new moulds. If you are making new moulds then you can build the temperature sensors in if you wish. They come in a metal cannister and the specs are available on our sensors page.

3. Can I connect my own sensors?

   In a very limited way (J and K type thermocouples only). There are so many different sensor types out there with many different ways of connecting that if we tried to manage it, we would have an explosion of complexity that would be unmanageable. To contain complexity (and therefore cost), all our sensors either connect directly or via our Smart-Sensor technology. Our smart-sensor adaptors allow us to connect your thermocouples. The use-case for this is having these thermocouples embedded in a mould or platen. As we said above, you don't need to to change your moulds to work with us. If you have a very specific sensor you need us to support this may be possible – give us a call.

4. Is it compatible with my existing SCADA or dashboard system?

   We have the software architecture in place to send data to SCADA or other systems, but it is not implemented yet. If you need it, we can implement it – give us a call.

5. We have security restrictions in the company about where data can go – what does this mean for us?

   We used industry standard tools to deliver your online portal, and can create you a server in your own building/company if you need it.

6. Can I export to Excel, or other platforms?

   Yes. You can go to your online portal and download your data. You can select what you need by date-range and off you go. Data is exported in Comma Separate Variable (CSV) format, so it's easy to ingest into Excel or other systems. If you have a custom requirement, we'd love to hear about it.

4 What traceability do I get with my data and why does it matter?

1. Does the system store historical data?

   Currently your online portal stores 3 months data, and your gauge an hour's window of data in case of of internet issues. We can extend your storage in your cloud platform for a nominal fee, and can arrange automatic backups if you need it.

2. Can I use it to prove process compliance for aerospace or automotive QA?

   Yes – the data in your portal can only be written to by your gauge, and can't be modified. It is also encrypted in transit from the gauge to the portal so is not susceptible to a man-in-the-middle attacks.

3. Can I associate process data with job, part or batch id?

   Absolutely, and this is all part of the service. You can set a job/batch/part ID in free text and all subsequent sensor readings will be associate with that until you reset or pause it. It takes a few seconds to do.

4. Can the data be modified?

   No – as we stated above it can't be modified. Even in tech-support mode, we can't change your data.

5. Can i send the data on to my customers?

   Yes – there are multiple ways to do this – our current approach and two in development:

   • You can download it and send it on in Excel or CSV format (current mode).
   • We can give them a portal page that can only access job codes that you specify (in development)
   • You can push data from the portal to them so it goes to a download page for them (in development)

6. We have multiple manufacturing sites – how does it help?

   This is the great advantage of the cloud based approach we have taken. If you have multiple sites around the world, or just work in your own workshop, the same principles apply. You can see live data from any smart vacuum system and download to your own desktop. Each smart composite system identifies by site, name and country, so you can easily sort your data to tell you everything about your operations, manufacturing data, costs, etc.

5 Can I see what happens as it happens?

1. Do I get live alerts for vacuum loss, power drop, or temperature spikes?

   Yes – we apply the same approach to any type of sensor you may wish to attach. Each one has a warning and alert value, and some have the ability to trigger real-time control events, such as turning a vacuum pump on at a level you set to protect your consolidation or infusion.

2. Can I view the data on my phone or tablet?

   Yes – we supply you with secure login credentials and then you're good to go.

3. Does the dashboard show trends, not just numbers?

   Yes – everyone gets three out-of-the-box dashboards, and others can be custom build. The dashboards are:

   • real-time view – any sensor that is connected automatically joins this dashboard showing it's value and status every 5 seconds.
   • trending view – historical data for all your connected sensors, and their status (showing events like being disconnected)
   • download view – this gives the selection criteria to download your data

4. Can multiple people view the data at once?

   Yes – we can provide additional login credentials as needed.

5. How do I see what's on my portal?

   When your gauge arrives, you will receive the login credentials to get to your portal. These credentials come both in a sealed envelope (for your safe keeping), and via email. From that, click the link and go. You may change your password after you've logged in once.

6. What about data provenance – where do you keep my data?

   Your data resides in a secure cloud server in a data centre in your country, or a country of your choice. This means you should have no issues with data provenance.

7. Do I share that server with anyone else?

   No – we have strict segregation rules between customers. You do not share storage, databases, or other facilities with anyone else. This is good security practice – it's far safer to give your your own enclave rather than have to write complex code (which introduces risk) to share facilities with other customers.

6 What do I do next?

1. How do I find out more?

   Drop us an email or give us a call – we would really like to understand your setup and how we can help.

2. What else is there to know?

   Please take a look at the following sections

   • Sensor specifications
   • Pricing
   • Infusion Setup
   • Prepreg setup
   • Compression Moulding Setup