I was with a customer the other day. They have nice setup already. Couple of qs-STATs, one solara.MP, one Q-DM for automatic upload and some additional options. We were talking about one of the controlling processes they have. It is a couple of stations with different kinds of attributive testing. Basically, operators making decisions between OK and NOK parts. Pretty simple. But I was not sure how they store the data and how the evaluation is done.
All in the excel sheet!!! And not just one! No sir. Different templates!
You can imagine my horror.
How to get the data to Q-DAS, the user asked. And then he answered himself quickly. Create a convertor that converts different excel templates into the DFQ file and upload it in the database. We just need to figure out how to write attributive characteristics.
Ok, I am going to calm down. In theory, it is a good idea. After all everything is possible, right? We can do anything we want.
But is it really a good option? Is it? IS IT?
No. It’s not. It creates a problem with later support, changes in the templates, security of the data during collection in the excel and all sorts of other points that I don’t remember (and to be honest, I am too lazy to look it up in our documentation now...).
So, what is the good option? O-QIS procella for test stations. Tool where everything can be done. Test plan that guides the operators. And it is directly connected to the database. And sometimes it saves the world. If you don’t know about the procella, click on the link below. You are in for a treat.
And if you have special requests of how to do anything, please reach out to us. Just bear in mind that usually, the standard solution, is the best solution even for not-standard problems.