Unilux Europe CmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany:

V. Schleivogt,  vschlevoigt@unilux.com

The Edge Tech inspection system delivers real-time images to monitor trim quality of strips. Unilux introduced the new version of its inspection system for real-time examination of trim quality and knife condition at full production speed. The introduction to the markets this year follows several months of full-production tests in two mills in the United States and scale-size demonstrations at mills in Latin America and Europe. Edge-trim problems have plagued the steel industry for decades, and most mills know how to solve them once they spot them and determine their cause. The real problem has been finding bad edges and their causes in real time, when mill operators can take corrective action before damaged coils go through expensive, value-added processes. The Edge Tech system allows mill personnel to see the smallest details of flaws on the edges of trimmed coils. They can take appropriate actions – in real time if necessary – to improve operating efficiency. They can make knife adjustments on the fly to maintain a specification range during a coil run and, when needed, schedule maintenance to avoid unscheduled downtime. They can eliminate burrs that damage rolls and prevent edge cracks that cause strip breaks in the cold reduction process. They can eliminate saw tooth that leads to re-trim and immediate cust omer rejection, and they do not need to wait for three coils to be processed before finding they have multiple bad coils. With its technology constantly improving, Unilux enables operators and inspectors to see defects faster and more clearly to increase yield and customer satisfaction. As edge-inspection technology matures, the steel industry will be able to realize the same benefits as it has from stripwide surface inspection.