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Ultramax® NEWSLETTER, January 2008 Welcome partners, customers, agents, suppliers, friends and
visitors… New release 7.1.d January 29, 2008 This release
includes the Introduction and Discovery (I&D) mini-trial license in all regular licenses for three months, to
facilitate many people getting acquainted and trained with Ultramax, without
requiring the software key (dongle) of the full License. In addition, there is a specific trial
I&D license (only) to explore Ultramax at low cost. There were
significant cosmetic improvements in License and application messages as
explained at the end of www.ultramax.com/Umax71.htm
We request users to
be particularly attentive till the end of April in detecting (and reporting) anything
that does not appear normal or as good as desirable. The upgrade is
available for free to all holders of unexpired Ultramax® 7.1
licenses. New Version 7.1 and associated
offerings Since August 2007
Version 7.1 is available for upgrades and new customers. Version 7.1
culminates the efforts started with 7.0 of greater simplification, achieved
by adding new automated features for optimization set-up and management. Installation and re-starts as the
process or requirements change has been made much easier. In particular, 7.1 has greatly enabled
and simplified the evaluation of performance gains when there are important
uncontrolled inputs (which still need to be measured) which also affect
operating performance (i.e., it separates the gains in performance due to
better adjustments from the changes in performance due to changing uncontrolled
inputs). As part of the core
technology, there have been significant improvements in the achievement of
sequential gains for processes with very many inputs and low gradients
(slopes). For more details
see www.ultramax.com/Umax71.htm.
The top Ultramax
product -- now called Ultramax® Pro Integrated -- continues to be the traditional unlimited in
size and implemented on-line for dynamic optimization as conditions,
requirement and economic factors change.
The interface or integration with the Process Control system for
automatic data exchange supports both Advisory and Closed-Loop optimization
– easily selected by the user.
The concept of “Closed-Loop” is that when a sufficiently
unusual combination of values (for the current conditions) is observed,
Closed-Loop will automatically turn to Advisory to get the attention of plant
personnel to be aware of the situation, and possibly to detect and solve the
problem. In addition it
happens that there is a very large demand for “optimization
studies”, that is, engineering optimization projects of relatively
short duration in laboratories, prototypes, pilot plants or existing
production facilities. Ultramax
is considerably faster, simpler and a more effective optimizer –
including cost-savings in production -- than Design-of-Experiments
(DOE). That demand, especially
for smaller companies, is well satisfied with the 7.1 new features and
versions of Ultramax: 1.
All licenses now include a complete self-training Tutorial for
Stand-Alone optimization. It
includes templates for documentation, analysis and reporting. The Tutorial leaves the customer
personnel self-capable much longer.
From an exclusively technical point-of-view, such as for personal use,
it does not require an on-site visit by an optimization expert, with the
consequence savings. On‑site
Services are still available for customers that prefer to get that extra
level of confidence and reliability.
On‑site Services are especially desirable when there is a
management thrust to improve general practices towards making true operations
optimization with existing equipment (as compared to just
“improvements”) a normal aspect of maintaining a competitive
advantage. Integrated
installations continue to require, in addition, on-site support. 2.
To make the software more accessible
for smaller applications 7.1 has limited-size versions at corresponding
costs. These licenses can be
expanded in size as required. The
size required for a particular application can be estimated up front by the
customer completing a Questionnaire (see #5 below). The traditional
unlimited-size (Ultramax® Pro) continues
to be available for studies and for integrated installations. 3.
There is an Introductory three-month
license, the Tutorial and Discovery
version to go through the full Tutorial (6 to 12 hours), and for small
applications of up to three inputs.
This fully satisfies the need to get well aquatinted with Ultramax at
the customer’s own pace.
4.
Since 7.0 we offer the service of the Capability and Consistency Analysis™
(CCA™) – no on-site visit required. Here the customer collects regular operating
data in a spread-sheet format and submits to the supplier, who in turn will
analyze and deliver a written report.
This analysis is a standard part of the Ultramax software, so in the
future the customer can perform its own analyses after acquiring a
License. 5. To complete the picture of offerings, to help new customers
understand what they really need for specific products and processes, for
some ten years we have analyzing (as a free service) the data in a Questionnaire – please ask for
it. We have also
formalized a Profit-Sharing option
that delivers over 100% return-on-investments for License and Services, plus
Positive Cash Flow after the down payment. Travel expenses are covered
separately. New Publications about Ultramax®
Optimization since 2006: The relationship between operations
optimization and Lean Operations (part of Lean Manufacturing) is explored by
C. W. Moreno in “Optimization in Production Operations: Optimal
“Lean Operations” in Manufacturing”, IIE Lean Division web
publication, October 24, 2006. Link Chapman & Hall / CRC. ©2007, InTech, ISA (Instrumentation, Systems and
Automation) Society, April 2006, “Software: A gentler step-up”
pp. 45, by, C. W. Moreno Link Dissolution of dependency
on Pegasus Technologies in Power Generation, May 2006 Ultramax Corporation ("UMC")
announces that it resumes the supply and maintenance of Ultramax®
Method and Software for Advanced Process Management™ for power utility
companies in the In 2002, UMC granted Pegasus
Technologies, Inc. ("PT") an exclusive license to market,
distribute, and sublicense Ultramax to power plants operated by utility
companies in those geographic areas. UMC subsequently became
dissatisfied with PT’s performance, and both parties have agreed on a
settlement, the termination of the agreement, and full restoration of rights
to UMC. It is now clear that the
technologies the two parties provide satisfy significantly different customer
needs, and require different expertise to deliver. UMC is also concerned about the
possibility of insufficient support of past utility customers, to whom we
apologize and invite to get back in touch with us. There is a list of 100 boiler combustion
optimizations, where the improvements were principally aimed at reduction in
emissions and LOI, and/or increases in efficiency, while safeguarding the
equipment. The main difference between Ultramax
and the solutions offered by other suppliers that include optimization,
Pegasus included, is that generally their solutions include and require
changes to the Process Control System; while the Ultramax generic
optimization is a totally separate and non-intrusive analytic tool-set, which
can be used at will with reliability.
This feature means that when the customer is overwhelmed by other
priorities they are not forced to have Ultramax optimization working at the
same time, or to have Ultramax personnel on-site. Ultramax applies just as well to combustion
optimization as to all other ancillary processes in a utility plant ‑‑ especially
now that so many subsystems are being added for emissions control -- as well
to virtually all other industries.
Invitation for New
Agencies We continue looking for new Agencies; either regionally,
vertical by industry, or a combination.
We also offer
customers the option to designate potential Agencies – with whom they
already have close relationships -- to provide the Ultramax solution. For those of you
interested in becoming independent Agencies to provide local marketing, sales
and support for Ultramax customers, these are the characteristics of a
desirable Agency: 1.
Is an established firm
with good reputation, or has a well funded start-up business plan. 2.
Is engaged in marketing,
selling and providing technical services to production and
manufacturing. Good – and
complementary – expertise are: Process Control and refinements,
Automation, Instrumentation, Manufacturing Execution Systems, Real-time
metrics, Integration, Quality, Six-Sigma and Lean Manufacturing. 3.
Is truly customer-oriented
4.
It is not required to have
specific process expertise except for a vertical market focus. 5.
Will propose a reasonable
marketing plan for Ultramax that realistically includes a minimum revenue to
Ultramax Corporation by the second year, with increases thereafter. For a vertical
industry focus we look forward to capitalize on past areas of success, such
as anything dealing with Combustion, Chemicals, Molding
(injection, blow, foam, extrusion, etc.), Paper, Fibers, Painting
and Coating, Metal Cutting and Machining, and Semiconductor
Processing (Fab and Development). Of particular
interest today is the area of Bio-Fuels such as Gasohol, Glass
and Food Processing. Ultramax Corporation, |
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