POWERPLAST
PRODUCTION
SYSTEM

As engineers, we often say: “If you cannot measure it, it doesn’t exist.”

This principle underpins the Powerplast Production System (PPS), a system we have designed to ensure the highest level of quality and reliability in our products.

Our products are both similar and different at the same time. They are similar because they utilise the same core technology and raw materials. However, they are different because each product is specifically designed and customised for the customer’s unique application. It is rare for us to produce the same sail twice. Each sail has its own unique skin, its specific type of fibre reinforcement, and a tailored weight distribution of these reinforcements. The fibre reinforcement weight varies not only from sail to sail but also between different areas of the same sail.

Testing the material after production is not feasible, as such tests are typically destructive and it is difficult to select an appropriate test area. This makes having full control over the production process essential.

The Powerplast Production System was developed to trace, monitor, and record every aspect of our production process. By ensuring that all parameters remain within our strict tolerances, we can confidently guarantee that our products are the best we can deliver.

Testing

We test every batch of raw material we receive, checking and recording data such as areal or linear weight, thickness, tensile strength, tensile elasticity and adhesion properties.

Skin

We inspect each meter of skins material before we use it.

Fibers

We weight and record the amount of glue we use in each sail

Room Condition

We monitor and record humidity and temperature, during fibre laydown and material lamination.

Pressure & temperature

We monitor and record lamination pressure and temperature.

TECHNOLOGICAL AIDS

How can we get all this data without pain? We kindly asked Technology to help us and it did.

We have several instruments in our lab and production, some are commercially available and some others have been designed for us. We have an Instron mechanical testing machine, that allows us to perform several tests at material reception and during production. We have custom design pressure gauge, that allows us to measure lamination pressure without making holes in the vacuum bags. Moreover, they are tiny, so we can place them in several places of the vacuum bag, to collect more data and immediately check for small holes that can create reduction of lamination pressure. If we see reduction of lamination pressure, we can find small holes using an Ultrasound Camera. Through this camera, we can find the holes immediately, saving time to our operators and reducing operation time of vacuum pumps, saving energy and reducing CO2 impact of the products. Lamination temperature is checked using Infrared Camera, that can immediately show us if any area has been under heated or over heated. We have also a full set a other simple instruments such as micrometer gauges, weighing scale, colour sensors and so on, providing a full set of data that is input in our PPS. Thanks to our PPS we can assure our customers that the product they received has been made correctly. We can also improve our current products, linking good or bad performances to these parameters.