VSync · connected sand testing

Your sand readings, off the machine and into decisions.

VSync connects the instruments you already run to a plant dashboard. Each test is recorded as it happens, reports are produced without retyping, and sand results can be compared against the castings they produced.

Compactability · moulding lineIn band
Moisture
3.4 %
GCS
1.42 kg/cm²
Tests today
48
Illustrative dashboard. Figures are examples, not a customer record.
The gap

The reading is taken. Then what happens to it?

In most sand labs the test is done well and the number is written down well. What follows is where the value leaks away. The sheet is typed into a spreadsheet at the end of the shift, and the file then sits on one computer. By the time a rejection is investigated, that day's sand data often has to be pieced together from memory.

VSync was built to close that gap. The reading is captured at the machine, kept with its own timestamp, and made available to the people who need it, without anyone retyping it.

How it connects
VSyncMachine 1ModbusMachine 2ModbusMachine 3ModbusYourdashboardapp.sandtesting.org
Your instruments connect to the VSync unit, which sends each test through to your dashboard.
The unit

A small box that speaks to your machines.

VSync sits in the lab or on the line and does one job: it collects what the instruments measure and delivers it onward, whether the plant network is wired or wireless.

Speaks to the machines you own

Versatile instruments connect straight away. Equipment from other makers is usually supported too, by reading the signals that machine already produces (Modbus).

Wired or wireless

Your cable network or WiFi is used, whichever is available, and the unit keeps checking in so a dropped connection is noticed.

Curves as well as readings

Batch equipment such as hot distortion, core gas and LOI uploads the whole curve, not a single end value.

Keeps its own time

An on-board clock timestamps each test, so records stay ordered.

Updated in the field

The software inside the unit updates itself safely, so a routine improvement does not need an engineer on site.

Set up without us

A configuration portal lets your team point the unit at the plant network, and status is shown on the unit.

Reporting

Paperwork that produces itself.

Most of what a sand lab is asked for is a record: what was tested, when, by whom, and whether it met the specification. VSync keeps that record and issues it in a form you can put in front of a customer's quality engineer, an auditor, or your own management review.

A test log your customer can read

Each test is written as one line: what was measured, when, and on which machine. Choose a date range, or just the day or night shift, and send it to Excel.

Your own columns on each reading

Fields such as truck number, supplier, batch name or sand code sit beside the measured values, so a reading carries the context your team actually asks about.

Notes and tags

A retest, a doubtful sample or a trial batch can be annotated and tagged, then found again by that tag later.

Branded sieve and GFN sheet

Sieve analysis comes out as a granulometric control sheet under your own logo. It shows what each mesh held back, the cumulative passing by ASTM and BSS, and the grain fineness number, with two charts and a place to sign. It prints, or saves as a PDF.

Curve against a control band

For hot distortion, core gas and LOI, each run is drawn against a band built from your own earlier runs. The match percentage is given, and the points that fall outside are marked.

Reports that arrive on their own

Daily, per shift, weekly or monthly schedules are set once, for a machine, a VSync or the whole plant, and the workbook is emailed as a secure download link.

Curve against your own standard

A hot distortion, core gas or LOI run is compared with a band built from earlier runs of the same sand. A drift shows up while the sample is still on the bench.

0expansionbreak-upTime (s)Displacement (mm)
Illustrative run against a mean and sigma band. Out-of-band points are marked.

Sieve analysis, issued as a sheet

Retained and cumulative passing are calculated by mesh, the grain fineness number is worked out, and the sheet is produced under your own logo for the customer file.

1180µ850µ600µ425µ300µPan80%
Illustrative retained-weight distribution with a cumulative line.
Correlation and analysis

Connecting the sand to the castings it made.

This is the part a spreadsheet rarely reaches. Once rejection data is available alongside the sand record, the platform compares the two over the same period and shows which parameters move with your losses.

The comparison is made over matching dates. The period covered by a rejection sheet sets the window, and the sand readings from those same days are compared against it. A relationship that shows up here is a lead worth testing on the floor, and it is treated as a lead rather than as proof of cause.

Correlation matrix

Every measured parameter is compared against every other one and against your rejection rate, then shown as a heatmap. Relationships that were previously suspected can be seen and ranked.

+1.00+0.71-0.44+0.22+0.38+0.66+0.71+1.00-0.52+0.15+0.29+0.58-0.44-0.52+1.00-0.18-0.24-0.49+0.22+0.15-0.18+1.00+0.11+0.20+0.38+0.29-0.24+0.11+1.00+0.34+0.66+0.58-0.49+0.20+0.34+1.00MoistureMoistureCompact.Compact.GCSGCSPermeab.Permeab.Active clayActive clayRejection %Rejection %
Illustrative matrix. Blue is a positive relationship, red a negative one.

Rejection against a parameter

Any single parameter is plotted against rejection percentage with a fitted line and the correlation statistics, so a suspected driver can be examined on its own.

Moisture %Rejection %
Illustrative scatter with a fitted trend line.

Process capability

Cp, Cpk and a histogram are calculated against your specification limits, which shows whether the process sits inside the window or merely averages inside it.

Cp
1.21
Cpk
0.86
Mean
3.4
Illustrative capability read-out against specification limits.

Pareto of defects

Defects are ranked by count with a cumulative line, and can be grouped by defect, by part number or by cavity. Effort is then aimed at the few causes carrying most of the loss.

BlowholeSand dropScabErosionMisrunOther80%
Illustrative Pareto of defects with a cumulative line.
Without the file shuffle

Plants running CaRe 101 can link their defect register directly

Some plants already log their checked casting defects in CaRe 101. With the plant's permission that record is joined to VSync directly. The rejection side then stays up to date, and nobody has to export and upload a sheet.

app.sandtesting.org

What your team gets to log in to.

The platform is reached from a browser, so the lab, the foundry manager and a visiting engineer look at the same record. Access is issued per plant, and what each person can change is decided by you.

Dashboards you arrange

Tiles are chosen per screen: a live value, a trend against limits, a table, a grain-size distribution or a connectivity panel. Different screens suit the lab, the moulding line and the manager.

Rejection data, however it reaches you

A casting rejection sheet is uploaded as CSV or Excel, or entered by hand with part, cavity, quantity and defect. Plants running CaRe 101 can link it instead, so the verified defect register flows in without a file.

Insight in plain language

Where a plant brings its own AI account, the correlation, capability and Pareto figures already worked out are summarised as a short written note. Your account details are stored securely, and which AI service you use stays your choice.

Fleet and data health

Each unit reports whether it is connected, and the platform separately tracks when readings last arrived, so a quiet machine is told apart from a quiet network.

Access that suits a plant

Logins are issued per plant, and a view-only role suits a reviewer. You decide whether your team may change machine settings. Reports carry your logo, and they can be sent from your own email address.

Help built in

Each screen links to a short article that explains the feature in plain terms, so a new user is not left guessing.

Self configuration

Change it yourself, and keep a way back.

A plant should not have to wait for a visit to add an instrument or correct a setting. Where you want that control, it is granted, and every change is recorded so it can be undone.

How much a plant may change is decided per customer. Configuration can be left with us. It can be opened up so your team adds Versatile instruments itself, or opened further still so other equipment on the floor is added too, including machines we did not supply.

Kept with us

Configuration stays in Versatile's hands, which suits a plant that would rather not touch it.

Add from a template

Your team adds a Versatile instrument itself, with the outputs already described.

Map your own equipment

Equipment from other makers is added by your own team, so the platform is not limited to what we sell.

Every change is snapshottedrestore
CONFIGURATION HISTORYAdded machine - Sand RammerToday 09:12 · customer:acmecurrentRegister map edited - VUD III21 Aug 16:40 · customer:acmerestoreMachine removed - old VPD18 Aug 11:05 · admin:veplrestoreMachine added from template02 Aug 08:22 · admin:veplrestore
Illustrative history. Each change records who made it, and an earlier configuration can be restored.
Why the safety net matters

Restoring a configuration does not orphan the readings

A restore puts the settings back while keeping each output's identity, so the readings already recorded against that machine stay attached to it. Trying a change is therefore low risk. The network side is covered too: the unit carries its own setup page, so your team can point it at the plant network without waiting for a visit.

Getting started

What putting it in actually involves.

1

We check the machines

Your instruments are reviewed to confirm what each one can output and how it should be read.

2

The unit goes in

VSync is installed and pointed at the plant network, with the machines mapped to it.

3

Your screens are set up

Dashboards, report formats and schedules are arranged around how your plant already reports.

4

Your team is shown round

Operators and the QC team are walked through the screens, with help articles left inside the app.

Alongside the rest

It does not stand on its own.

VSync is one part of how Versatile equipment is measured, verified and improved.

Calibration

Certificates that can be checked

Instrument calibration is recorded separately and verified by QR, and a scan can show the machine's recent readings where that has been enabled.

CaRe 101

Defects logged on the floor

Casting defects are captured from a photo at the moulding line, which is what gives the correlation work a verified rejection record to lean on.

V-CAT

Control, not just measurement

Where sand is tested in line, V-CAT feeds results back to the mixer, and those readings are recorded through the same platform.

See it against your own sand data.

Tell us which instruments you run and how your plant reports today, and a walk-through can be arranged on the platform rather than on slides.