Reduced machine downtime, improved OEE and a clear reduction in scrap. 'We have gone from 4% to 1.5% scrap rate', says Pierre Challamel, the manager of the numerically controlled multispindle lathes of the Joseph Martin bar turning company, located in Vougy and Bonneville, in Haute-Savoie. With inspection times now spaced out every hour instead of every 20 minutes, this automotive subcontractor, which employs 190 people, must certainly not regret having been the first bar turner to implement the Ellisetting SPC software, which its publisher Ellistat, also from Haute-Savoie, had deployed mainly in the watchmaking sector. Much more than an SPC, this software based on Automated Process Control (APC), a standard created by Ellistat, allows the automatic adjustment of machine tools from the measurement of a part, by calculating the correctors to be applied. This young company based in Chavanod started its activity by providing advice on the use of SPC to control production. This led to a first intervention at Joseph Martin. 'At the same time, we were developing our own Automated Process Control solution with the aim of improving production quality, which is why I came back to meet them,' recalls Davy Pillet, the founder of Ellistat. A user of an out-of-date SPC software, Joseph Martin was looking for just such a replacement. In 2018, the software was tested on an Index MS22-6 multispindle lathe that produces components for Volkswagen dual-clutch, electronically controlled DSG transmissions. A laptop PC is connected to a series of electronic inspection instruments (dial indicators and other micrometers). 'With our testing equipment connected, the measurements are then entered directly into Ellisetting, which calculates the corrections to be made to the machine. The operator then programs the new parameters into the NC3,' says Managing Director Laurent Martin. Since Joseph Martin works according to IATF 16949, the international standard for quality management systems in the automotive industry, operator training in SPC is essential. 'Each operator must be able to explain to the auditor how he controls his machine using the SPC,' explains Laurent Martin. Especially since their last renewal audit, they are required 'to justify and record all the dimensions we measure,' adds Pierre Challamel. 'And with Ellisetting, I can save them very easily. Since the first tests, seven multispindle lathes are now controlled by Ellisetting out of a total of 28. With such good results, there is no doubt that the bar turner will very quickly duplicate the principles of APC on the rest of the park.'