Unilux Names Euronort Industrial to Bring Portable Surface Inspection to Spanish Steel Industry
SADDLE BROOK, NJ May 9, 2006 - Unilux, the world's leading designer and manufacturer of stroboscopic surface inspection systems, has named Euronort Industrial of Aviles, Asturias, Spain, as the new representatives for the Spanish steel industry. Ricardo Chamoso and Carlos Garcia, the principals of Euronort, will be responsible for introducing Unilux's proven Miti-Lite portable surface inspection light, the HD 851, the 850D Sentry and 701 Centurion systems as well as the new Q-EYE video inspection system to the sophisticated Spanish mills.
"Spain has a very strong steel industry," said Mike Simonis, president of Unilux, Inc. "The country's mills have invested well in modern technology that enable them to compete internationally in high-quality markets, such as exterior automotive steel and architectural sheet metal, and they've added automated defect detection systems for quality control. Now they are looking at how these inexpensive lights complement their automatic systems by filling in the void of information from automatic systems. By enabling the operator to see 100 percent of the strip, they can quickly confirm any defects caught on automatic systems and also see the surrounding areas in case new anomalies are present or were missed. This is critical especially with line scan systems. It also becomes an inexpensive insurance policy should the automatic systems go down and mills have to decide between running blind or shutting down. Neither is a good choice. This is where Ricardo and Carlos of Euronort have already become invaluable assistance to several mills by completing their inspection needs."
Chamoso and Garcia each have 20 years of experience in the steel industry. They met while students in Gijon, Spain, where they were raised, and spent 12 years working as technicians in mills. They each had seven years of experience in equipment sales before starting Euronort Industrial in 2004.
"The ability to find the cause of a surface defect is of great interest to the mills," Chamoso said. "The people who have seen the Miti-Lite in use have been very impressed with it. Some mills have been using smaller, lower-powered strobe lights that do not have enough intensity to inspect steel properly. Once they see the Miti-Lite at work, they realize that this powerful tool will help them maximize their investment in sophisticated inspection systems as well as benefiting their entire steel making process. Steel mills see the Miti-Lite as a key tool to improve and increase their yield."
Chamoso also noted that in addition to being impressed with the Miti-Lite's power, which provides 900 Lux of illumination from a distance of 1m (3.3 ft) in a flood pattern, mill managers like the fact it is powered by a 14.4 VDC rechargeable NiCad battery. "They were finding it very inconvenient to drag around a light and a power cord," he said. "A two- or three-hour test is enough to convince the customers of the benefits the Miti-Lite offers."
Chamoso said several mills have also expressed interest in fixed-mount systems, such as the HD851, 850D Sentry, and the Centurion for temper mills. The mills have many areas where inspection is ideal but where automatic systems cannot be installed. Even when they install the automatic systems, they still have an inspector checking the strip. These inexpensive Unilux lights allow the operators to quickly confirm the defects caught on the automatic systems and allow them to look at the surrounding areas to make sure nothing is missed. The mills see these lights as a valuable tool to complete the details not seen by automatic systems. He also looks forward to showing them the benefits of Unilux's new Q-EYE inspection system with its video recording and playback capabilities that can help process engineers take steps to prevent defects and surface flaws.
About Unilux
Unilux Inc., headquartered in Saddle Brook, NJ, is in its 44th year of designing and manufacturing industrial surface inspection lighting systems for the printing/converting, metals and papermaking industries and heavy-duty strobe lighting systems for the film and video industry. Unilux currently has sales representatives in 29 countries in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa along with four service centers. For additional information, contact Unilux, Inc., 59 North Fifth St., Saddle Brook, NJ 07663 USA. Phone: 800-522-0801 (US only) 201-712-1266 (Worldwide) Fax: 201-712-1366 Internet: www.unilux.com.
