Thermal Processing magazine interviewed Mike Loepke, Head of Software and Digitalization at Nitrex, to discuss the newly launched digitalization platform, QMULUS.
Here’s a summary.
What is QMULUS, and why did Nitrex need to develop it?
QMULUS is a holistic IoT solution designed to streamline and optimize the daily operations of heat treaters. It provides various functionalities, including monitoring, controlling, detecting anomalies, analyzing data, and optimizing processes. Additionally, QMULUS enables regular auditing and reporting of heat treatment processes.
The development of QMULUS was driven by the absence of a single digital platform that could bring together all the various instrumentation, equipment, and special functions that NITREX had created. It is an all-in-one solution that gives users complete control and visibility over their heat-treat plants.
How does the cloud allow heat-treating sites to be managed remotely? What advantages does this allow?
The cloud allows for remote management of heat-treating sites including systems and instruments through an on-prem service that communicates and synchronizes data to the cloud, making it user-friendly and easily accessible via smartphone or laptop. No software installation is required.
How does QMULUS allow for real-time visibility of a heat-treating plant?
QMULUS allows real-time visibility of a heat-treating plant using an edge device for IoT systems that collects data from various sources, aggregates it, encrypts it, and sends it to a cloud environment, either public, private, or even on-premises. With all the data and software services available in one place, the system makes it easy to service, update and create backups.
Data can be analyzed and processed with the help of cloud computing to draw conclusions and make real-time adjustments. Real-time visibility enables a level of predictive quality, which has not been available in the heat treatment industry before.
How does QMULUS provide data protection?
QMULUS provides data protection using state-of-the-art communication protocols and encryption modules. All data in transfer or at rest is encrypted with the latest security encryption standards and follows FIPS 140-2 or higher, meeting government-mandated security and data privacy regulations. The system can be hosted on-premises, in a gov cloud, or public cloud environments with isolated private subnets/tenants, ensuring that customer data is strictly separated and not accessible by others. The security and protection of data are also maintained through the expertise of infrastructure providers like AWS or Azure.
To read the full article, visit www.thermalprocessing.com.