Tracking converters--in process & beyond. (WIP).

Complete tracking of the production of catalytic converters is being performed by CalsonicKansei North America [Farmington Hills, MI]. The impetus for full life-cycle traceability has always been something people in the industry have wanted, but its practicality has been more difficult. However, talking about setting up the tracking capability, CalsonicKansei's engineering director, Steve Burnette, says, "We created a plan to use a unique indented bar coding system--not a stick-on label, but a permanent mark that becomes part of the product and is readable throughout its service life--as a primary key, or pointer, for our database. This is a system that produces a separate, unique serial number on each and every unit--a 'lot code of one,' if you will." The information contained in the mark includes the converter's precise build time, date, and manufacturing process parameters. Also, it indicates the substrate composition and the ceramic Fiber mat material inside the "can."

Burnette continues, "These numbers are captured to the database, along with the lot code for the substrate. So, the date the converter was made, the speciFic batch of slurry it was made from, machines used in manufacturing, and the wash coat assigned by the chemical guys, all become integral to the converter. The mark is readable before manufacturing is even complete, as well as Five years down the road." He emphasizes, "From an emissions perspective, you must know what's in the converter. Now all of the information, which was never contained in one place before, is captured and tied to the unique serial number represented by a permanent barcode."

The barcode technology was developed by TraceAbility Systems (Ingomar, PA] and is available under the trade name "Bumpy Bar Code." BBC imbeds a bar code directly into a metal, plastic or rubber component using various methods, including dot peening, molding, hot or die stamping, vacuum forming, and lasing. Often, the marking process can be integrated into an existing process, thereby minimizing process time. The mark is represented by highs and lows in surface height rather than changes in black and white, as is the case with bar codes. Consequently, the BBC can be read under a variety of conditions where traditional bar codes would be impractical. To read the mark, a BEC reader, which includes a laser scanner and a CCO camera, is employed. It reads both the depth and contrast of the mark and makes a comparison. The dual reading approach is proven to be reliable. As Burnette observes, "In the beginning, we looked seriously at two different technologies For tracking these converters. The reason we chose the Bu mpy' system was that you either get a good read or a no read; those are the only choices. A proprietary algorithm makes misreads a virtual impossibility. With other 20 systems we Feel there are three choices: a good read, no read, or a misread. And the additional choice, where a number was read but comes up wrong, was a possibility we preferred not to deal with."

In the case of the Calsonic-Kansei implementation, there are both BBC and human-readable marks employed.

To learn more about the system from TraceAbility, write in 122 on the Reader Service Card.