1. 15 Months in the Real World Colin Sutherland

2. Overview Background My Job A little project…

3. A little background… Oakville is the only GE lamp plant in Canada Had 60 th birthday this August Makes 3 lamp types Incandescent PAR (Parabolic Aluminum Reflector) Fluorescent Tubes

4. “Electrical Engineering Intern” Ambiguous, like many things in the real world Jobs included:  Ordering parts, dealing with suppliers  Updating/creating new electrical schematics  Production/downtime reporting  PLC Programming  Organizing, working with electricians  Etc More like “Electrical Engineer”

5. And now for something thrilling…

6. Coating Problems on Light bulbs Coated to reduce glare from the uncovered filament Coating defects very visible when bulb lit up. Not good for decorative lamps! Defects = Shrinkage and recalls = waste = $ lost!

7. Coating Process Dumper Assembly Machine Coater Oven Bulb Spacer Conveyor Boxes In Bulbs Out

8. What was wrong? Average DPM (Defects per million) of 2577 Very High Variance and excursions

9. Why? Old system used a motor to detect powder height Powder high -> motor has more resistance -> can be measured Problem? Powder is messy! Can gum up mechanical systems No visual feedback on height. Hard to adjust

10. Why? Photoelectric sensor to check for powder density Sensitivity has to be manually adjusted Again, no feedback, no alarms when rejects occur!

11. Improving Other sensors tried in the past did not work Needs to be accurate, and resistant to dust Prototype set up Solution: Laser distance sensor Visual feedback Multiple Outputs

12. Improving Open at top for easy cleaning Tube at bottom to limit powder flow up into bracket Air piped into tube from back to keep powder out Used laser sensor to check for coating density More accurate Easier to adjust Multiple Outputs

13. Results 2008 Average of 668 DPM Variance reduced

14. What did I learn? You can never make something foolproof enough People will always find ways to mess things up  Need as much redundancy as you can fit in You can’t anticipate every possible scenario in time  But you need to  Might have to add functionality afterwards Important to have clear documentation