Assurance of System, Process and Product Quality

As one of the leading suppliers in the field of special machinery and plant engineering, the SCHWING Group offers maximum quality at all stages of the value chain. Based on specialist, cross-industry application and heat treatment know-how, legal requirements and corporate responsibility, professional engineering and project management enables in-house production of both simple customer-specific industrial furnaces and complex heat treatment systems including charging and conveying technology.

The following norms and standards form the basis for the development, design and manufacture of SCHWING Thermal Solutions:

DIN EN 1539: Flammable substances that can be released

As a supplement to Directive 2006/42/EC, DIN EN 1539 is primarily addressed to the designers or manufacturers of industrial furnaces and heat treatment equipment (here: dryers) in which flammable substances are released by the evaporation and curing of coating materials or plastics. Flammable substances are primarily solvents introduced into surface coatings, molding lacquers or impregnating resins, as well as liquid or gaseous reaction products of thermosets, elastomers (e.g. silicone) and composites (e.g. glass fiber reinforced plastics (GRP) or carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP)) formed as a result of the crosslinking process. The standard now also includes dryers used in the production of food and pharmaceuticals.

DIN EN 1539 thus regulates the safety requirements for industrial furnaces and dryers with regard to all significant hazards, hazardous situations and hazardous events. This includes, above all, monitoring the concentrations of flammable substances in the supply and exhaust air, but also the avoidance of ignition sources and structural measures to relieve explosion pressure.

The industry standard defines “flammable substances” as all predominantly volatile organic compounds (VOC) that can be released as vapors, gases, liquids, solids, or corresponding mixtures and that, when ignited, undergo an exothermic reaction with air. Therefore, when designing furnaces and dryers, all flammable materials present and potentially generated must be identified. This is based on the safety data sheets of the materials to be treated in the industrial furnaces or dryers and the maximum quantity of solvents or flammable substances introduced.

AMS 2750, AMS 2770, NADCAP (aerospace / aviation industry)
CQI-9 (Automotive Industry)

The AMS 2750 standard (Aerospace Material Specifications) and the AMS 2770 derived from it regulate the industrial processing of high-grade materials in the aerospace industry and the heat treatment of aluminum alloys, respectively. Based on AMS 2750, the quality of a heat treatment process can be defined by the customer on the basis of temperature uniformity or furnace class and measuring instrumentation.

Like AMS 2750, NADCAP (National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program) is a global quality system with official accreditation with the leading companies in the aerospace and defense industry.

Using AMS 2750 as a reference document, the automotive industry has adopted the CQI-9 standard as a corresponding set of rules for heat treatment processes in the automotive industry, which also includes the audit methodology according to ISO/TS 16949:2002 (standard of the global automotive industry to avoid multiple certifications).

The standards mentioned here deal in particular with the

• Temperature uniformity in the usable space (Temperature Uniformity Survey, TUS) or in the specific working zones before and after the thermoprocess, determined by plant-independent, calibrated test equipment and sensors, the
• Instrumentation (specification of the measuring and control equipment), the
• Calibration of the measuring section (IT) from the controller via measuring line to the thermocouple, the regular
• Tests of the system accuracy (System accuracy Test, SAT) of the installed measuring devices, lines and sensors in comparison to calibrated reference devices as well as with the
• Documentation of the test cycles for compliance with the required quality standards.

Directive 2006/42/EC, the Machinery Directive of the European Parliament

To enable free trade in machinery within the European Union, the European Parliament has formulated uniform requirements for the safety of machinery and the health protection of operators. These are summarized in the so-called “Machinery Directive” and address all manufacturers, distributors (importers) and operators of machinery and equipment.

Accordingly, the design of a machine is subject to the following conditions:

• The machine is designed to be mechanically and electrically safe.
• Functional safety (e.g. safe control circuits) and safe operation are guaranteed.
• The machine is safe at the time it is placed on the market.
• Safety or protective devices of the machine must not be bypassed.
• Machines and systems must comply with the Machinery Directive from the planning stage through operation to subsequent modernization.
• Technical documentation and operating instructions exist, which clearly draw the attention of the users or operators of the machine to the marked, existing residual risks.
• Conformity assessments with risk evaluation must be carried out; after successful assessment, the manufacturer declares the conformity of the equipment (CE declaration of conformity) and may affix the CE mark (CE = Communauté Européenne, European Community).
  In the case of an incomplete machine, the manufacturer (as a non-marketer) issues an “EC Declaration of Incorporation” after successful assessment and informs the marketer which conditions still have to be fulfilled before the machine can be placed on the market, i.e. put into service.
• A machine can only be traded freely in the EU if it has a CE mark and a CE declaration of conformity or an EC declaration of incorporation.

DIN EN ISO 12100: Safety of machinery and plants

DN EN ISO 12100 deals with general design guidelines for machinery and equipment. It describes basic hazards in the construction and operation of machines and helps to identify hazards, assess their potential and thus take them into account in the design. Relevant hazards can be mechanical, electrical or thermal or can be caused by noise, vibrations, radiation, materials or also by an unergonomic design.

Within the framework of a risk analysis according to DIN EN ISO 12100, the designer identifies the relevant hazards, structures and evaluates the risks that arise, and undertakes appropriate risk mitigation in his design. After that, the hazard situation is reassessed.

Once the design appears to be coherent and safe, engineering and other safeguards are developed to further mitigate risk, and final user information is defined to minimize risk.

Depending on the process, application and industry, further technical guidelines, standards or norms are applied, such as:

DIN EN 746 (Safety requirements for industrial thermoprocessing equipment)

DIN EN 746 regulates the general and specific safety of industrial thermoprocessing equipment. The industry standard defines in particular the safety requirements for

• Combustion and fuel supply systems,
• the generation and application of protective and reaction gases,
• Hot-dip galvanizing plants,
• Salt bath heat treatment equipment and facilities,
• Quenching systems

as well as to their specific protection systems.

DIN EN 17052-1 (Usable space in heat treatment furnaces)

This industrial standard deals with temperature uniformity in the usable space of industrial furnaces and heat treatment plants and their system accuracy in this respect: In contrast to the “furnace chamber”, which describes the volume of the entire interior of a furnace, the “usable space” defines the space that can actually be used effectively for heat treatment, i.e. the furnace chamber minus loading devices and safety distances to door insulation, heating and air guidance elements, temperature sensors, etc..

ISO 50001 (energy management)

ISO 50001 supports companies and organizations in establishing systematic energy management. In Germany, certification in accordance with ISO 50001 or DIN EN 50001 is a prerequisite for partial exemption from the EEG surcharge or potential relief from electricity and energy tax. The aim of the standard is to unlock untapped energy efficiency potential in energy-intensive companies, thereby reducing energy costs and lowering greenhouse gas emissions (carbon footprint) and other negative impacts of energy consumption on the environment.

The systematic energy management of a company can be designed according to the following agenda:

• Systematic recording of all energy flows in the company (energy sources, energy use, energy consumers)
• Assessment of the status quo of the efficiency of the facilities and equipment relevant for energy consumption as well as processes and activities
• Definition of target figures for energy-related performance
• Development, planning and implementation of both technical measures to improve energy efficiency and strategic and organizational management approaches