Every paper machine of any significant size has an online QCS that measures various properties of the produced paper. Without a QCS, papermakers would be producing paper blindly and would only discover defective product after the fact. Once a QCS is installed, maintenance and service are crucial for preserving and enhancing the quality, productivity and efficiency of the papermaking process. Here, QCS field service technicians play a pivotal role.
As QCS technology evolves, hardware, software and data management changes necessitate an expansion of the technicians’ responsibilities. Principally, it has become vital for them always to be connected to the QCS equipment in real time. The ability to also distribute data remotely to experts who can help solve problems brings resolution time down significantly. There will still be challenges – such as having the capacity for large data transfer or ensuring secure data encryption – when implementing this digital future within QCS service. However, these are problems that can be solved with a strong IT security team.
With this improvement in problem-solving based on digital tools, automation and skilled service personnel, mills can migrate their maintenance programs from reactive to proactive and beyond. This is all possible as a part of a digital revolution in QCS service.
Existing style of service
Currently, much of QCS service relies heavily on manual processes performed by on-site technicians whose tasks include scheduled preventive maintenance activities such as visual inspections, equipment functionality checks, cleaning, operator training, measurement correlation, key performance indicator (KPI) recording and control system security »01. These routine tasks demand precision and consistency to ensure optimal system performance.
However, this “clipboard” approach has limitations. Technicians can only perform a finite number of rounds daily and some equipment may be difficult to access or require downtime for maintenance. Additionally, this methodology provides only a snapshot of the system’s state, potentially missing gradual or intermittent issues. Data recording and sharing practices are also often not uniform, varying from paper trails to digital records.