How United Process Controls ensures Prescriptive Quality in steel heat treatment with innoscripta

Meet United Process Controls

United Process Controls develops advanced models for the thermochemical treatment of steel. Their goal: to ensure that every workpiece, after heat treatment, meets exact tolerance requirements.

“We started a development project several years ago with the aim of safeguarding existing production processes in the thermochemical treatment of steel using data and models in such a way that the quality of the workpieces after processing remains within the specified tolerance limits.”

This effort combines internal developers in Germany with teams in the U.S., Canada, and Poland, and even academic collaborations with Canadian universities.

The Challenge

Managing R&D in such complex environments is a data challenge.

“The challenge in such an undertaking lies in the quality of the data; that is to say: can the measured values be trusted?”

United Process Controls describes how process controllers request values (e.g., gas flow) and how measurement behavior depends not only on proper devices but also on side conditions like line pressure, valves, or connections.

“If we can predict these values from many inputs and compare them with the actual measurements, we can check their plausibility.”

Ultimately, the task was not just technical—it also required significant investment and reliable funding.

The Solution

United Process Controls extended its system to simulate target values and predict part quality even during ongoing processes.

“Ultimately we end up with a closed control loop that ensures the required properties of the produced parts. We then call this Prescriptive Quality.”

As an added benefit, the models also monitor plant health, flag anomalies, and predict failures before they occur.

Here, innoscripta played a decisive role:

• Helping define project goals clearly
• Guiding the funding process and reporting
• Ensuring fast and transparent communication
• Adapting flexibly to project changes

“No matter what challenges or changes arose during the course of the project, innoscripta always found a solution that met our requirements.”

The Impact

The collaboration delivered both technical and organizational value:

• Reliable plausibility checks for process data
• Closed-loop quality control
• Early detection of anomalies
• Reduced financial and administrative risk

“We always felt well supported and could rely on our concerns being taken seriously and dealt with promptly. The results speak for themselves: Our expectations were not only met, but far exceeded.”

Conclusion

United Process Controls confirms that innoscripta not only secured financing but also accelerated their innovation.

“We are extremely satisfied with the results and look forward to future projects. We can recommend innoscripta without reservation and are convinced that other customers will also benefit from their professionalism and expertise.”