COMPUTERIZED HEAT-TREATMENT IN A ZIMBABWEAN FACTORY

In the context of Zimbabwe's current economic problems, parts of the manufacturing industry are turning their attention to the possibility of utilising local design talent in upgrading their manufacturing plants. This paper describes a project undertaken by the National University of Science and Technology to convert the heat-treatment process in a major manufacturing plant from semi -manual to a computerized one. The system comprises microcontroller connection to the furnaces and sensors, and communicates with a central computer on which software for a windowed user-interface is hosted. Experimental results for the system are presented, and a strategy for other companies in the same predicament is proposed.