The new FT230 is designed to ensure quality control can keep pace with production by “significantly simplifying and accelerating testing of components and assemblies,” according to Hitachi High-Tech Analytical Science, an offshoot of Hitachi.
According to Hitachi, the FT230 speeds up analysis via an intelligent part recognition feature called Find My Part™ that automatically selects the features that need to be measured, the analytical routines and reporting rules.
With traditional XRF instruments, around 72 percent of testing time is lost on set up, said Hitachi, meaning that operators spend more time preparing a measurement and manipulating the results than the instrument spends analyzing the part.
Thanks to the Find My Part™ feature, Hitachi claims that the setup time will be significantly reduced, allowing the operator less time using the XRF and more time working the results. The technology also features Hitachi’s new FT Connect software.
According to the company, FT Connect “completely inverts the traditional interface” by focusing the interface on the most important aspects of the XRF rather than having the screen occupied by controls, many of which are rarely used.
According to Matt Kreiner, Hitachi’s coatings analysis product manager: “The FT230 fundamentally changes the way operators interact with an XRF.”
Kreiner said: “With the FT230, the user loads a part into the chamber, runs the Find My Part™ routine and the instrument takes care of the rest. Everything we’ve built into the FT230 was designed to shorten and simplify the most time-consuming and complex part of an XRF measurement – the setup. This reduces mistakes, frees up operators to perform value-added tasks and increases testing volumes so XRF owners can do more with less.”