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Foundry Corporate News Topic Chemicals

Quaker Houghton: Digital Optimization of Fluids and Processes

The management of process fluids is often treated as a secondary concern. However, placing greater emphasis on these fluids could offer manufacturers numerous benefits, according to Rob Garee, Global Senior Director of Fluidcare at Quaker Houghton.

Press Release | Reading time: min | Bildquelle: Quaker Chemical Corporation d/b/a Quaker Houghton

Manufacturers typically focus on improving process efficiency. In today’s highly competitive and inflationary environment, they are more focused than ever on enhancing process efficiency and reducing overall costs. As a result, an increasing number of manufacturers are adopting Industry 4.0 initiatives, incorporating further automation and digitization of processes, essentially doing more with less.

The primary focus of Industry 4.0 implementation is usually the main manufacturing systems—but what about the various supporting subsystems? These subsystems are often rudimentary and highly manual, making them prime candidates for improvements through digital automation and control. For example, in the production of automotive parts, a key process may involve die-casting a precisely shaped, high-quality engine block from molten aluminum. The overall efficiency of the die-casting process is heavily influenced by the use of lubricants, which facilitate metal flow, optimize wetting and spreading time, or maintain mold temperature within a narrow range. While the die-casting process itself is automated and controlled, it is common for the auxiliary system supplying essential process aids, such as die lubricants, to be entirely manual, lacking even the most basic forms of automation or control technology. This is quite ironic for a manufacturer striving for precision, quality, and efficiency, and spending significant money on process fluids to achieve these results.

The first step toward better understanding the potential for improvement begins with manufacturers generating data, even from auxiliary systems that monitor process fluids.

Why It Matters

Data can help manufacturers identify where fluid management processes can be improved, where unnecessary costs are being incurred, and where productivity is being hindered. When process fluids are managed manually, one or more of the following downstream manufacturing issues typically arise:

1. Accelerated tool wear – this leads to more machine maintenance, higher replacement costs for tools, and even longer downtimes.
2. Reduced quality of finished parts – this directly affects the manufacturer’s profit margin, as a product that does not meet certain quality targets is often downgraded for lower-value applications, reworked, or simply scrapped.
3. Poor fluid condition – unstable fluid concentration and pH levels can indicate poor fluid condition, leading to increased costs due to excessive consumption or the need for complete refills. The latter means that the fluid must be disposed of and replaced, increasing both disposal and replenishment costs.

Traditionally, manual fluid management has involved a lot of "guesswork." Many manufacturers simply monitor a fluid bath visually and do not record meaningful data. In these cases, fluids are manually replenished only when they appear low, or worse, when a downstream problem arises. This is essentially operating in the dark regarding fluid volume, concentration, and condition—a reactive approach to problem-solving, rather than a proactive approach to preventing issues in downstream processes. By employing automation technology to monitor fluid concentration and other critical parameters that contribute to determining fluid condition, manufacturers can step out of the dark and achieve predictable results. Through the use of automated control technology based on regular data collection and analysis, manufacturers can achieve more with less—less labor, less downtime, less fluid consumption, and overall lower operating costs.

 

Adding Intelligence

Quaker Houghton has developed a platform specifically designed to address these challenges, enabling manufacturers to benefit from the optimization of fluids and processes.

QH FLUID INTELLIGENCE™ offers real-time monitoring and control of fluid performance and costs, providing quick, precise, and actionable insights. The solution is customizable, scalable, and easily integrated into production operations, reducing waste, risk, and overall operating costs.

The platform combines four key elements: Quaker Houghton's top-tier fluids, application expertise, hardware, and software. As for the hardware, the QH FLUIDMONITOR™ family uses proprietary sensor technologies for automatic real-time measurement of critical fluid and process parameters, reducing the need for manual sampling and analysis. The QH FLUIDCONTROL™ hardware family integrates proprietary sensors and controllers for automatic measurement and physical control of critical fluid and process parameters.

These hardware families work in tandem with the third element, QH FLUIDTREND™, an intuitive, user-friendly software that displays real-time and historical data and analytics from QH FLUIDMONITOR™ and QH FLUIDCONTROL™. QH FLUIDTREND™ provides manufacturers not just with data, but with insights into optimizing fluids and processes, improving the predictability of results, which is highly valued by all manufacturers.

The combined elements of the QH FLUID INTELLIGENCE™ platform deliver insights that help with three words every engineer knows well: measure, control, optimize:

- Leverage precise and effective automation to measure key parameters for fluid performance;
- Control these parameters using reliable automation technology; and
- Use data to gain insights into optimizing fluids and processes.

The end result is a predictable, tangible outcome such as improved productivity, longer equipment and tool life, optimized labor efficiency, enhanced health and safety, and in some cases, even improved sustainability. Ultimately, manufacturers can further reduce their total operating costs with the QH FLUID INTELLIGENCE™ platform—an absolute necessity in today’s competitive and inflationary environment.

A Proven Product

Although the QH FLUID INTELLIGENCE™ platform is a relatively new market launch for Quaker Houghton, several large manufacturers have already successfully implemented it—and the results are impressive. A global automotive company that utilized QH FLUID INTELLIGENCE™ to optimize fluids in its grinding processes saved $300,000 per year, reduced downtime by 75%, and improved productivity by 1,000 hours annually.

In the aerospace sector, a manufacturer of wing ribs has benefitted in multiple ways from QH FLUID INTELLIGENCE™. By employing the platform, the company saves manual labor in filling and maintaining coolant, extends coolant life, reduces waste and downtime during coolant changeovers, improves tool life, and reduces defects as fluid concentration remains consistent.

The list of industry segments interested in the QH FLUID INTELLIGENCE™ platform and its applications is long—from conversion coatings for surface treatments to aluminum hot rolling, steel cold rolling, and a variety of metalworking applications.


 

The Future of Fluids

When it comes to automation technology for process fluids, a key differentiator of Quaker Houghton’s offering is that the QH FLUIDMONITOR™ and QH FLUIDCONTROL™ hardware products are developed and calibrated in-house by a dedicated team of engineers and chemists. These experts are not only familiar with industrial sensor technologies but also with formulations and applications for industrial process fluids. With this expertise, Quaker Houghton has developed unique, proprietary know-how for calibrating process fluids for sensors, reducing the risk of incorrect readings and ensuring accuracy even under harsh operating conditions—something others have not achieved.

Similarly, the analytics embedded in QH FLUIDTREND™ and the resulting optimization recommendations were developed by QH software engineers and supported by the institutional knowledge of QH’s technical experts. The internal expertise of Quaker Houghton’s chemists, physicists, engineers, and application experts is leveraged throughout the product development process, not just at launch.

What Industry 4.0 has brought to primary manufacturing processes, Quaker Houghton now brings to the supporting processes in production. Quaker Houghton has successfully leveraged automation and control technologies to digitize and optimize these often-forgotten pieces of the puzzle. Whether you are a die-casting company or a steel mill, the QH FLUID INTELLIGENCE™ platform can help increase the predictability of outcomes while reducing waste, improving efficiency, and lowering costs.

QH FLUID INTELLIGENCE™ represents the intelligent future of fluids. For more information, visit: https://home.quakerhoughton.com/qhfluidintelligence/ 

Company Info

Quaker Chemical Corporation d/b/a Quaker Houghton

One Quaker Park, 901 E. Hector Street
19428-2380 Conshohocken
USA

Telephone: +1 (610) 832 7809

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