Magazine Article - Advanced Gauging Technologies

February 26, 2018 By Nick Hunkar

A Growing Market

As Metal Center News magazine recently stated, Steel Technologies’ Pesqueria, Nuevo Leon, Mexico facility was supplied with a new Andritz Herr-Voss Stamco multi-blanking line. This line is capable of handling a coil capacity of 60,000 pounds and processes 74-inch-wide material. At this facility, Steel Technologies conducts a variety of services including: slitting, multi-blanking and EPS pickling. Advanced Gauging Technologies is proud to have supplied an AGT400 Isotope Thickness Gauge for this new line to ensure Steel Technologies’ strict thickness tolerances are continuously adhered to. A.G.T. specializes in the service and manufacturing of non-contact isotope and laser thickness gauges so it was a natural fit for these two growing companies to work together on this new project.

April 10, 2016 By Todd Allen

AGT Laser Gauge Measures Any Alloy

Article appears in Metal Center News Magazine, March 2016.

March 2016 – Advanced Gauging Technologies, Plain City, Ohio, offers its patented AGT800 laser thickness gauge, designed to measure any alloy processed in coil, sheet or strip form. The AGT800 is an optical-based measuring system that uses high-precision Keyence laser senors. Each sensor emits a Class II laser beam and receives the beam back on a RS-CMOS pixel array. The gauge then determines the exact distance to the target material and calculates a precise material thickness.

The AGT800 features an intuitive, easy -to-operate user interface making it convenient for operators to access information and navigate between screens, the company claims. It provides graphic representation of strip thickness over the entire length of the coil and dictates out-of-tolerance material instantly. The system is calibrated using N.I.S.T-traceable samples. Detailed S.P.C. reporting and data storage are standard features included with the AGT800.

Direct benefits realized through the measurement process of the AGT800 include documented compliance with ISO9002, QS9000, improved process control, increased productivity and scrap reduction. The standard system also provides disk or network data storage and easy recall of all S.P.C. information. This feature eliminates the need to maintain large collection of printed reports for the long-term record keeping purposes.

October 30, 2015 By Todd Allen

Rapid Results

Article by Emily Vasquez and appears in Modern Metals Magazine, September 2015.

Service center realizes unexpected savings by upgrading gauging system

September 2015 – Where there is a problem, there must be a solution. When Vince Gallo first arrived at Nova Steel in 2013, he noticed the Stoney Creek, Ontario, facility was using an older gauging device that needed to be replaced with something far more accurate. The pickling line at the service center had an X-ray gauging system in place, but it was “difficult to read and effectively distribute gauge charts,” says Gallo. “People today want more accurate, precise information.” Seeking to increase its capabilities, Nova Steel installed a new slitting line along with new state-of-the-art measuring technology, improving process control and increasing output.

“We had some old gauging devices installed on our pickling line,” says Gallo. In September, we ordered a new slitter but, as we had very limited gauge reading capabilities, we called on Advanced Gauging Technologies again,” says Gallo. The AGT800 laser thickness gauge, which was installed in February 2015, was just the solution Gallo needed.

With over 30 years in the service center industry, Gallo’s knowledge of gauging technology spans three decades and his search always led him back to A.G.T. “There was never any question,” he says of his decision to go with the Plain City, Ohio, instrument maker for Nova’s gauging needs.

Gauging instruments, he says, is “a market that has fewer and fewer players because of its difficult technology, but A.G.T. has a lot of experience and a wealth of knowledge. In the last 30 years, I’ve dealt with about 11 of their gauging systems.”

Steve Venters, sales manager at A.G.T., confirms, “We have known Vince for many years. In fact, he bought several of our very first AGT400 isotope thickness gauges more than 15 years ago. He’s been familiar with our gauges from his experience at other steel service centers.”

Instant results

When it came to the slitting line at Nova Steel, Gallo selected the AGT800 laser thickness gauge which is designed to measure the thickness of metals and virtually any other material processed in coil, sheet or strip form.

Introduced in 2013, the AGT800 offers a safer, improved alternative to isotope and X-ray gauging systems. The AGT800 has no radioactive source, compared to an isotope gauge. This means there are no requirements for compliance with federal and state regulations and radiation leak tests are not necessary.

“The isotope is a great gauge but we were able to get the same capabilities without all the legislative requirements that come with the isotopes. The software is also exactly identical. So, of course, we skewed to the AGT800; it became the first [one in use] in Canada at the time,” says Gallo.

The AGT800 is a two-part system comprised of an easy-to-install C-frame mounted on the processing line, and an electronics cabinet which contains the computer, electronics shelf, uninterruptable power supply, monitor and other key components. The AGT800 is designed to measure materials with a thickness range of up to 0.75 inch. It uses Keyence laser sensors that emit Class II laser beams which are received back on a RS-CMOS pixel array, or a photo sensor, and determines the distance to the target material. The gauge’s software uses this information to calculate the distance to the target material and precise material thickness is then determined. The AGT800 computer then translates the information instantly, automatically creating a coil report and various measurement data. This information is then stored on the gauge and can also be sent to a company server to avoid any loss in case of a power outage or other unforeseen incidents.

The S.P.C. reporting software collects and organizes the data to create detailed coil reports. The gauge also has sophisticated diagnostic screens which can make it much easier to diagnose any system problems that may arise. A.G.T.’s ISOcal system allows the gauge to check the calibration through sampling, which simplifies regular system checks. The report summaries are stored and saved onto Nova Steel’s hard drive and printed for technicians to analyze data.

“The gauge charts are very clear, concise and save to our hard drive automatically. We have it set up to not only save on the hard drive but it also creates a PDF to send to our sales team,” says Gallo.

Maximum accuracy

To instruct users on the complex technology, A.G.T. technicians offer detailed training support on the AGT800’s operation and maintenance requirements during the gauge startup. “When we commission a new system, it is typically a three- to four-day process,” says Venters. “We make sure everything is calibrated and everything operates correctly. Then, we meet with all the operators and maintenance personnel.” A.G.T. also performs semi-annual preventive maintenance checks in order to make sure the gauge is operating as designed.

“Every time A.G.T. comes in to do service work, they do a refresher for our maintenance personnel and operators. It’s a real benefit to us,” says Gallo.

Overall, the AGT800 has made Nova Steel’s operations more productive, he notes. Previous setup on the old gauge provided poor documentation, which created problems for Nova on gauge-related claims. “It’s a tremendous amount of money and time without gauge traces,” says Gallo, referring to the pickling line that ran with an older DMC gauge, which prolonged processing whenever the material was out of spec.

“We can now monitor gauge-related issues and crop accordingly. If a customer wants a gauge from 0.35 inch to 0.40 inch, and the material comes in 0.34 inch, we’re able to accommodate. Prior to this, you’d have to stop the line on several occasions.”

The AGT800 ensures measurements are accurate before shipping out any orders. “We can now say, ‘Supplier A, you’re supposed to send us 0.35-inch material and you sent us 0.33-inch.’ We have actual documentation showing any discrepancies,” explains Gallo. “If you don’t have any proof, you have to take a sample by hand. An average coil takes over 20,000 gauge points. Meanwhile, we can only do four or five by hand.”

Of A.G.T., Gallo says, “They are very professional and always willing to help us out. If you look at their products, they are very progressive and always finding ways to improve.”

After seeing positive results with the slitting line one month after installation, Gallo ordered an AGT800 for its outdated pickling line gauging device. The gauge is scheduled for installation during fall 2015. MM

March 16, 2015 By Todd Allen

A.G.T. Leads The Way In Laser Thickness Measurement

Advanced Gauging Technologies was mentioned in the March 2015 issue of American Metal Market as a pioneer in the transition from isotope to laser based thickness gauging. Bill Beck’s article highlights the various ways that the metal industry, and its service centers, are using technology to enhance productivity in ways not thought possible even a decade ago.

You can find the whole article “Technology centers” over at the American Metal Market website but here is an excerpt with our mention:

Perhaps no segment of the metals service center industry has experienced more technological change in the 21st Century than metals testing. Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. provides its service center customers with sophisticated handheld alloy analyzers. And Plain City, Ohio-based Advanced Gauging Technologies LLC has helped pioneer the transition of measuring the thickness of coil, sheet or strip metal from isotope gauges to laser gauges, eliminating the use of radioactive material and giving operators a measure of precision that is hard to surpass.

December 12, 2014 By Steve Venters

AGT800 Laser Gauge Featured In American Metal Market 2014 Spotlight Article

Metals Testing Transformed By 21st-Century Technology

While larger companies dominate a significant portion of the testing equipment market, some breakthrough technologies still come out of tiny mom-and-pop companies, reminiscent of the computer technology that came out of California garages a half-century ago. For much of the past few decades, the thickness of coil, sheet or strip metal has been measured by service centers with isotope gauges such as the AGT400 manufactured by Advanced Gauging Technologies, LLC. An isotope gauge typically consists of a computer, monitor, printer and advanced electronics located in an electronics cabinet connected to a C-frame that includes a source head and a detector head. The C-frame is mounted on the processing line so that the material being measured passes between the source and the detector head. Isotope gauges such as the AGT400 use a very small amount of radioactive material to measure the thickness of the material passing through the C-frame. “There is a shutter in the source head that opens and releases the radiation. The detector head located on the other side of the material measures the amount of radiation that passes through,” Steve Venters, Sales Manager at Advanced Gauging Technologies, explained.

Entrepreneur Ronald Cook and his son, Scott, co-founded Advanced Gauging Technologies nearly 20 years ago in Plain City, a small town halfway between Columbus and Marysville, Ohio. The company’s small staff manufactures several AGT400 isotope thickness gauges annually and services more than 400 gauges, most located in metal service centers across North America. About half the devices serviced are isotope thickness gauges manufactured by Advanced Gauging Technologies. Isotope thickness gauges comprise only a small part of the total cost of a production line, and Advanced Gauging Technologies said its product typically “pays for itself within a year or less.” But there is one drawback to an isotope thickness gauge: the radioactive material used in the gauge. “It’s a very small amount of radioactive material, basically the same material used in many smoke detectors,” Venters said. Still, because the material is radioactive it must be licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) and inspected at regular intervals, which means paperwork requirements for both the vendor and the customer.

As a result, Advanced Gauging Technologies has spent the past two years designing and testing its new AGT800 laser thickness gauge, which it released for commercial use in late 2013. “It works the same way as the isotope gauge,” Venters said, “except it uses laser sensors mounted on the C-frame to measure the thickness of the material. One of the biggest advantages, of course, is that there are no federal or state licensing requirements.” Advanced Gauging’s first production AGT800 has been installed on a new 96-inch Butech Bliss stretch leveler/cut-to-length line at an Alabama service center. “We’re very excited about the opportunity to offer the AGT800 to our customers. It also gives us the capability to measure additional types of materials, such as films and plastics, which opens the door for new markets,” Venters said. “Accordingly, we are anticipating a pretty good period of growth over the next few years.”