Exciting news.
 
JetSoft is delighted to announce that Sam Cunningham joins us today as our new Head of Sales and Marketing.
 
Sam is well known in the British NDT community, and has a broad range of experience in the industry, which includes being Non Executive Director of the British Institute of Non Destructive Testing (BINDT).
 
JetSoft is committed to making high quality appointments as we look to build a world class team, and Sam’s experience, aptitude and communication skills make him the perfect fit. JetSoft is approaching an exciting period, and Sam will be key to ensuring we realise our growth strategy and capitalise on our industry leading, game changing products.
 
 
“I have known Sam for a while, and I have always thought that he would make a great addition to the JetSoft team. I was ecstatic to get a positive reaction from Sam when we were able to present him with this exciting opportunity. We have an amazing array of innovative and revolutionary products that are already delivering significant commercial benefit to our clients, and with Sam’s help we can expand our offer and reach. All of us at JetSoft are thrilled to welcome Sam into the team. ”
Tom Martin, CEO

Please drop him a call or email to say hi, or to get a rundown on how JetSoft can help you!

Sam.Cunningham@JetSoft.co.uk
​+44 (0) 113 4931007

​This month (August 2020) marks the second anniversary of our first AI, Automatic Defect Recognition (ADR) system being installed in a production environment.
​
To date we haven’t promoted our ADR system publicly, deciding to concentrate on working with select companies and individuals to fully develop it. However it has formed a natural addition to OverSeer’s framework. OverSeer collects inspection data and performs validation and calculations upon it, notifying stakeholders of results and storing data for further analysis. ADR is just another calculation.

​
This flagship installation at an aerospace metal production facility was installed in August 2018 and utilises many of JetSoft’s software features. We are gathering positive feedback from the site about the quality and productivity benefits it is delivering, including:
​

• Automatic defect and characteristic recognition
• Combining factory wide data with inspection information
• Driving process change
• Generating new insight and enabling predictive maintenance
• Reducing the requirements on downstream processes

In a series of upcoming posts, I will discuss these areas in more detail to explain how our processes deliver these benefits, starting with an insight into our ADR software.
 

A note on ADR
Firstly, this article uses the term ADR, which is an industrial term to mean the automatic detection of a problem within a component. ADR isn’t clearly defined yet within the industry, as explained in the previous post ADR - what’s expected? 

​The installation discussed in this article is an Automatic Indication Detection (AID) system, where inspections are still signed off by a qualified human operator.
 

How it works
JetSoft’s core mission is to provide systems that automatically aggregate and catalogue inspection data into a single database. We understand inspection data, and we gather it into a convenient format to take advantage of it. Our solutions combine quality control information with data from other manufacturing systems. These include details about the processing conditions that the part has gone through, details of the component structure and the customer specifications. Combining this information, and making it available for all, has the huge benefit of keeping quality at the forefront of everyone’s mind. I will talk about this in more detail in a future article.

This collated data is passed through an extensible list of models which are trained to look for particular faults or certain characteristics. Each model outputs a confidence level based on the likelihood that the inspection contains a positive match. Any disagreement between the system and inspector is highlighted to the responsible level 3 or automatically sent for a second opinion. This drastically minimises the potential for misdiagnosis. Additionally, the output of these models is stored in the system and is made available for analysis. 

​ 
Thresholding of output confidence enables the user to select the desired level of Probability of Detection (POD).

Model training is in depth and employs a hybrid approach using a combination of pre-processing, AI machine learning techniques using historic data and deterministic algorithms.

One of the key advantages of this system is its ability to subcategorise defects. For example, this system can differentiate between a lamination crack caused by rolling and a quench crack caused by heat treatment. Detecting this distinction is non-trivial for a human inspector, requiring further analysis

​Similar defects which are caused by different process may look very similar to inspectors, but it is important to differentiate them to target improvements towards the appropriate processes. For inspectors to make this distinction may require additional training and further analysis, whereas the systematic solution is automatic, quick and consistent.

​I mentioned earlier that the system can be configured to identify any characteristics, not just defects. This is important as there are many things we may want to observe and track that could indicate future problems which in time could lead to defects, or just a general reduction in quality. The time and cost investment of training inspectors to manually identify such trends or patterns would not be justified, however by recognising these warning signs early, there is time for mitigating action to be taken to reduce scrap rates in the long run.

 
Key benefits summary
An independent assessment – this system provides an independent assessment alongside the inspector. If there is any difference between the system and the inspector, the responsible level 3 can be alerted or it can be automatically sent for a second opinion. This improves quality and reduces the chance of mistakes or misdiagnosis, without increasing operating costs.

Sub categorisation of defects – this is the big commercial driver behind the software. It is the application of this feature that has seen scrap rates plummet. An inspector’s job is not necessarily to interpret the cause of a defect, but to highlight its existence. By training models to examine for defects with a known cause, we can target our time and efforts on improving process where we will see the most commercial benefit. This creates a feedback loop of high-quality, useful, data from inspection to all other departments.
 
Next time
Quality should be everyone’s responsibility, but this is only achievable if everyone has a clear vision of quality, and their impact upon it. JetSoft is providing the tools that deliver real time statistics which demonstrate and communicate quality to all.

​Next time we’ll look in more detail at how we’re achieving this and how JetSoft’s is helping everyone to take ownership of quality.
 

​​Automatic Defect Recognition (ADR) is a term that is gaining traction within the NDT world. However, neither ADR or the functions such a system should deliver are clearly defined.

​At JetSoft we prefer to split ADR into two stages, using the terminology Automatic Indication Detection (AID) and Automatic Part Sentencing (APS).
 
The problem with ADR
The scope of ADR isn’t clear. It seems, depending upon your source, ADR can range from a system which highlights abnormalities to an inspector, to one which can perform full sentencing (go/no go), eliminating the need for an inspector at all. In practice, most end users anticipate a solution resembling the latter, but this may not be true of the products promoted by equipment vendors.
 
AID and APS
At JetSoft we don’t use the term ADR, due to the lack of clarity on what this means, instead we use the terms:

• Automatic Indication Detection (AID)
• Automatic Part Sentencing (APS)

Defect detection is a two step process. The first step is the discovery of an indication or discontinuity, the second step is evaluating that indication against a specification to determine whether it is a defect. ADR may (or may not – depending upon who you talk to) be considered to be the automation of this two-step process. However, in JetSoft’s experience each stage can be automated separately, indeed it would be difficult not to.

JetSoft refers to the automation of the first step as Automatic Indication Detection (AID) with the results highlighted to an inspector or used as an independent assessment and compared with the manual outcome.
​
The second step, qualifying the indications against defect specifications, JetSoft calls Automatic Part Sentencing (APS). Because once a system is confidently automatically qualifying defects it must logically be able to decide if the part passes or failed.

​Is ADR overhyped?
News about ADR (go/no go) using deep learning and machine vision is rife and in my view racing towards the peak of inflated expectations on the Hype Cycle. 

The Hype Cycle, developed by the technology firm Gartner, details the phases a new technology goes through to reach maturity and widespread adoption. 

The scale of the peak and trough of this graph is exacerbated by the lack of clear definition of ADR. It is not difficult to imagine a situation where customers and suppliers differ on the expected functionality, resulting in a negative view of ADR and its possibilities.

However, ADR will happen. There is a large commercial appetite to reduce the cost of inspection and new advances in computation technologies prove that it is possible technically. But it may take a while to get there and require more investment (time and money) by users than anticipated. The market should be prepared not to expect a single turnkey algorithm that performs ADR on any component for any defect, but, should rather, anticipate solutions that require dedicated configuration, development and training based on what the users is looking for and the component/material type.

We hear a lot about the benefits involved with ADR, but perhaps less so of the realism of implementing and delivering them.
 
What to expect
JetSoft is amongst several companies utilising these new technologies, with working systems, using deep learning and machine learning techniques in place in production environments.
​ 
It is JetSoft’s experience that performing accurate automatic detection of defects takes dedicated time, development, and extensive testing. Furthermore, for an AID system to be effective, additional information beyond inspection data is required. Including component details and upstream process data, both of which are critical.

​It is important to note that in every case the preceding step to achieving an APS must be a fully working, and empirically proven AID system.
 
Contact us
As always, we would love to hear your thoughts on this, and if you have any questions, or would like to know more about what we do and the systems we have developed please get in contact.

​It is with great pride that we are officially launching our NDT Office software package, a solution dedicated to helping NDT departments manage their vast amounts of documentation and paperwork.

Background
For several years now, Jetsoft’s solutions have been helping companies to capture, manage and utilise their testing data, and to aggregate it across many formats and techniques, improving accessibility, efficiency, and communication.

From here, we spotted an opportunity to add value by transforming the way NDT departments manage their documents. Documentation is the lifeblood of NDT departments and underpins the operation and day to day activity of all personnel. Inspection results are inextricably linked to the documentation which drives the processes, including customer specifications, work instructions, equipment calibration and inspector certification and qualifications.

The problem
Most NDT departments are poorly setup to manage their documents, using unsuitable products such as the Microsoft Office suite, PDFs and in many cases, still using paper records.

My statement that Microsoft Office is unsuitable my surprise some of you, but Word, Excel etc, are not designed for our dynamic needs. They are great for single, standalone documents but are missing a lot of functionality that testing departments require. NDT documents are living, breathing records with dependencies, cascading impacts, and multiple relationships.  Some simple examples of missing functionality include:

• Expiration alerts. Many documents have an expiration date, and Microsoft Office has no way to specify an expiry date and to send alerts as that date approaches.
• Traceability and versioning. Process and specification documents are often updated and revised. Accurate version control is imperative in understanding which documents were in use when. Microsoft tools are inadequate for this.
• Data lookups. Completion of an inspection report requires the inspector to provide details on the equipment used and which specifications were followed. The designer of the template is left with the choice of a free text box which is versatile but lacks any validation, or an inbuilt dropdown box that rapidly goes out of date.

NDT departments implement workarounds for these inadequacies, which adds considerable time to the management process, for example maintaining separate excel sheets or constantly updating report templates. These workarounds not only add significant time overhead, but are not scalable in a business looking to grow the NDT department, operate more machines, test more components and take on more customers (and so specifications). In this scenario, management by a single Excel spreadsheet will very quickly become problematic.

​The Solution
JetSoft is a software company dedicated to developing solutions for NDT. We are ideally placed to both understand the needs of NDT departments and prescribe the best approach to solve them. We put our heads together, engaged with both existing and new clients, and have designed and developed NDT Office. This application fits neatly into our existing framework and expands our capabilities from managing resultant inspection data to integrating the surrounding documentation.

OverSeer and NDT Office are centralised solutions, which store data and documents in one accessible place, and can be created by all colleagues who are granted access by the administrator. JetSoft solutions use cloud technologies, so can be accessed from any networked device without the need to install software. Note, it’s important to point out that while the solution is built using cloud technologies, individual instances can be installed on premises, meaning all data and access is via the internal network only and no data or connection is exposed externally.

NDT Office is an incredibly versatile solution containing a vast number of useful features including:

• A complete and flexible toolkit to create forms and documents, with in built traceability
• Configurable expiry dates and alerts via email as expiration approaches
• Configurable validation to minimise input errors and eliminate missing data
• Create wrappers for multiple files, e.g. an inspection report of a component may be a collection of tests, combined with other related documentation to form a single entity
• Automatically restrict access to create inspection reports based on existence of other documents. For example, it is possible to prevent an operator from creating an inspection report if they don’t have valid credentials.

• Create and manage lookups so that options within forms are always up to date. As this is centrally administered, lookup options are managed and instantly applied to forms. When a new item of equipment comes online, with NDT Office, it can easily be added to the list of active equipment from which the operator can select when completing a report.

NDT office is built on top of the OverSeer framework and so benefits from its existing functionality including comprehensive search tools and business intelligence features.

These features are helping companies to reduce the time demands on key personnel, to reduce risk, become more efficient and put them in a position to scale and grow.

Use Cases
NDT office has already been installed and is in use at several locations. Our clients range from large manufacturers using NDT Office to manage data entry and non-conformance reporting, to test houses exposing the NDT Office interface to field engineers to recall previous inspection results and enter new reports, all of which are immediately accessible to head office.

​I’ll be writing some case studies in the coming months.

Well, more precisely, it’s 5½ years, but our anniversary in December passed us by as we busied ourselves with deadlines.

The current situation is allowing us some time to both look forward to the future and to reflect on our achievements.

JetSoft was incorporated in 2014 with nothing more than an idea and the aim of helping companies to manage and unlock the potential of their testing data. Over the past 5 years, we are extremely proud to have successfully developed a respected product suite and delivered it to companies both in Europe and the States. Our solutions are reducing time demands on key personnel, increasing our customers’ value proposition and supplying insight enabling companies to operate more efficiently.

​Projects have been a heady mix of being interesting and varied, challenging and rewarding. JetSoft customers and projects can be split into 4 categories:

1. Manufacturers looking to reduce time demands on key personnel, improve traceability and reduce scrap
2. Test houses wishing to improve their digital systems as well as increase their value proposition by providing additional information and statistics beyond pass/fail
3. Commission based customers wishing to use our skillsets to build them something specific
4. R&D projects

JetSoft enjoys the work we do and are proud of the relationship we have with our customers and the solutions we have delivered. I have detailed a few highlights below.

Manufacturers​
​
The first installation of OverSeer, JetSoft’s core framework, was for an aluminium plant in Birmingham, UK. I will always have gratitude for the team there that had the vision to take the leap and be the first install. In addition, their feedback has been instrumental in forming the product that we have today. This was the start of a continuing trend for developments and features to be customer and market led.

Test houses

We work with several test houses, who are generally looking for us to help them with digitising their documentation and supplying a scalable software solution for managing the way they process components.

Software commission​
​
Another of JetSoft’s early projects was a commission for NewGen NDT to design and build NxtGen a solution for digitising and monitoring the dye penetrant process. A combination of hardware and software, the inline system takes and tracks sensor readings over time and alerts should conditions go out of specification. The versatile product is under constant improvement with features including tracking parts through the process, improving traceability, automating reporting and generating operator and quality performance metrics. The architecture of the system means the system is incredibly adaptable and can be applied to many different manufacturing processes, not just NDT.

Another commission based piece of work was for a Dutch aerospace company who were (and still are) running unsupported inspection equipment from a manufacturer which is no longer operational. Aerospace requirements require the data to be retained, with the ability to be accessed and viewed, for the lifetime of the aircraft. To solve this business critical problem, we reverse engineered the format and provided a simple application for converting the inspection files to a format that they could open.
​

R&D
​
In 2018 and 2019 we were part of an exciting consortium working on the c£900k RASCAL research project. This project aimed to reduce the reliance on Computed Tomography NDT techniques for safety critical additive manufactured components, a well know problem in the industry. The project used a multimodal approach combining data from different inspection techniques. As the ‘software company’ we played an important role in developing the very well received robotic system, developing a software package capable of performing an extensible list of automatic assessments, fusing data, performing automatic defect recognition and integrating the results into a digital manufacturing environment.

​

​As you can see, our first 5 years have been very successful which wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of the JetSoft team, and our extended support network, from friends and families to customers and associates! You know who you are and thank you.

If you would like any more information on any of the projects discussed here, think we may be able to help you, or would just like a chat, please do not hesitate to get in contact.
 
Thanks
The JetSoft team.