Columbia City, IN – August 1, 2017 – MonTech, the world’s fastest growing premium rubber test instrument supplier, announces today the launch of its newest product, the fully automated Online Testing Cell.
The Online Testing Cell is the first automated robotic testing system available to the rubber industry. Housing multiple stations including binning, sample preparation, MDR, RPA, and density and more, the testing cell provides relevant batch information in real-time by bringing the quality lab to the mixing line. Applying complete automation and robotics promises faster batch release, higher sampling rates, less scrap, less rework, decreased variability in testing, and ultimately a lower cost per test.
The On-Line Testing Cell has a tangible ROI of less than 2 years for greenfield plants.
Although the product’s official debut is August 1st, the technology behind the testing cell has been in the works from MonTech since 2009 as a cooperative development between MonTech and various tire manufacturers. Since then, MonTech testing cells have been installed on over 90 mixing lines globally.
Inception of the project came from high-capacity mixers, such as tire plants, desiring to pursue technology that would reduce overhead costs of the laboratory, while increasing testing rate, reliability, repeatability, and accuracy of the data they were collecting. Combining robotics and testing instruments was the only option.
Online Testing Cells allow, for the first time, closed loop control between mixing, testing and downstream processes. Through direct integration into mixer controls, Cells can provide quick feedback for precisely controlled processes at a higher quality output.
Spencer Bagan, National Sales Manager for MonTech USA stated:
“We’re honored to lead the charge on introducing the On-Line Testing Cell to the U.S. market. It seems like a long-awaited opportunity for many of our high-capacity mixing friends. The question on how to fully automate testing has been tossed around for a couple years, and now we have an answer for it.”
