The MERILab and MERILab Ltd. Data Collection system provides customers with improved information collection through an interface between various production stations throughout the plant, facilitating system and service management. It connects the alignment process to associated equipment and systems such as preset and audit machines. It also provides the means of acquiring and disseminating information to improve management and control of the final assembly process. An optional direct link to MERILab engineers makes the Data Collection system a DataWeb System.

The DataWeb System takes the data obtained by the Data Collection system and sends it via e-mail to MERILab where automatic reports are generated and analyzed by alignment experts who then notify the customers of any significant trends. For example, they can alert operators to perform calibrations pro-actively before values reach specified limits, thereby facilitating the reduction of reactive re-calibrations.

Expected benefits from using the DataWeb system include:

•  Improved alignment
•  Improved manufacturing efficiency and throughput
•  Reduced manufacturing costs due to reduced down-time and cycle time improvements
•  100% audit capability using MERILab Kinetic(r) aligners
•  Reduced warranty costs  
•  Improved product quality
•  VIN tracking through warranty claims
•  Provision of offsets for preset calibrations
•  Identification of in-plant non-compliance
•  Reduced non-compliance rework