Leeds, UK ­ April 17, 2014 ­ When Q8Oils launched its Field Service Technician (FST) service at the MACH exhibition in 1992 it was an instant hit with visitors and was so well received in the wider industry that, at METCUT 1994, it received the Metalworking Production ŒTechnical Innovation¹ award. Now, more than twenty years on, Q8Oils marks the success of FST¹s unrivalled service to the UK manufacturing industry with the launch of QCare ­ a major upgrade of the system that monitors the condition of Q8Oils metalworking fluids and lubricants in a wide range of applications such as turning, cutting and grinding.

The new QCare service uses a network-enabled, tablet-based system with a bespoke Œapp¹ that enables Q8Oils field service technicians to monitor fluids, complete their audits and deliver results while still on site. In addition, because FSTs are highly trained metalworking experts, when working with machine operators they may also be able to identify problems as their checks are completed, and help to rectify them.

A visual inspection and a variety of tests are conducted to ensure Q8Oils products are performing correctly. These include standard fluid parameters such as concentration, pH and microbiological content. They also offer advice that can help customers increase coolant life and optimize performance resulting in improved machining processes and reduced machine down time.

Customers can also logon to the QCare system using their own tablet or desktop computer, and view a full historical report at any time, and share it with colleagues.

In the past twenty years the FST system has moved from a Œpaper¹ system requiring everything to be written down and multiple copies made, to an advanced and automated Œtraffic-light¹ system that identifies conditions as Green (normal), Amber (caution e.g. adjust fluid concentration) or Red (immediate action required). As direct sales manager Jeremy Dineen explains: ³The new QCare system is very much easier to operate, fully-automated and therefore much quicker, and will create a graphic chart to show a full history of any individual machine.² He adds that the new system is very compact, much more user-friendly on site, and allows data to be distributed instantly.

The combination of Q8Oils¹ highly-trained field service technicians and modern tablet technology enables customers to streamline their metalworking operation by maintaining machine performance and saving significant costs. Regular monitoring can limit unscheduled costs by reducing man and machine down time to routine service stops, and saving unscheduled maintenance.

See also, our Report, May 8th: