What is CPC?

CPC (Composite Processing Control) is ASC's flagship software and control system designed specifically for control of composite processes in autoclaves, ovens, presses, formers, and bond tools. Since its creation, CPC has been at the forefront of composite technology.

CPC Today

CPC has evolved over the last 31-years and is now the leader in the control of autoclaves and ovens. Most Tier I, II, and III aerospace companies standardize their controls on CPC.   Every day, more than 1500 pieces of equipment are controlled by CPC.  That's billions of dollars of composites being cured by this reliable package.

Features and Capabilities

Because we've listened closely to what our customers say, CPC has grown into a huge package full of hundreds of special features and capabilities required by the industry. Our customers are our partners and we constantly update and improve CPC to meet their needs.

Ease of use

Even though CPC is by far the most advanced control software product on the market, the software is still very easy to use. All screens and features are designed to maximize usability and increase operator efficiency. ASC takes great care to keep software operations as quickly as possible in order to reduce overall equipment cycle-time.

Excellent reliability

CPC is designed as a client-server package with proven reliability in the field. It is unacceptable to ASC and to our customers to have control applications that locks-up, and that is why CPC is designed and tested to meet stringent up-time specifications. Many of our CPC systems have been controlling multiple pieces of equipment for dozens of years without any major trouble incident. The up-time of CPC is far better than any other competitive product.

Multi-Equipment Control

CPC can concurrently control more as many as 20 pieces of equipment. This allows one PC or a dual-PC system to concurrently operate autoclaves, ovens, presses, and any other type of equipment in your production or laboratory area. This multi-equipment capability reduces the per-equipment cost of the system. No other software package has this capability or offers this feature.

Redundancy

CPC supports 100% redundancy of operations and data by means of a second PC. In a CPC Level II system, two PCs are used for primary and backup control of the equipment. In the highly unlikely event of primary PC failure, the backup PC will take control and continue the run(s) bumpless. The backup PC will also have a complete backup copy of the data up until and after the primary PC failure. During normal operation, both PCs can be utilized for viewing and/or operation.

Advanced cure control

ASC is the leader in the design and implementation of advanced controls for the curing and bonding of composites in autoclaves and ovens. The CPC software contains hundreds of options designed specifically to enhance the part quality. These include advanced recipe control, control by part temperature, control by part gradient, control by load gradient, exotherm control, material modeling to determine viscosity, Tg, and other material properties, pro-active control, and many others. No other product has all of these modeling features.

Comprehensive reporting

CPC has an extensive reporting capability that is far more powerful and flexible than those provided with other packages. You can select specific runs by database query and view and/or print trend date in color plot format, numeric logs, quality control reports, pass/fail reports, message logs, and a host of other formats. On-screen zooming and panning on the trend view are also supported.

Quality Analysis

CPC includes a revolutionary capability called the "Quality Card System". Each quality card is configured by the customer's quality engineer or specialist and serves as an automatic quality analysis agent. After a cure cycle is complete, CPC will access the quality card's analysis instructions and automatically scan all relevant run and part data to assure strict compliance. Because each card has a different set of quality conditions and requirements, you can buy off different parts with different cards - even in the same run.

Remote control/viewing

CPC is the only package capable of being viewed and control by multiple PCs on the customers' network. Unlike other competing products that utilize PC-Anywhere to "take control" of the equipment PC, CPC allows concurrent operation and viewing of the process by operators, engineers, QA/QC personnel, and managers on the network. As many as 20 concurrent clients are supported.

Multi-media features

CPC provides a host of multimedia features, including video maintenance training, drill-down maintenance images, part pictures, part diagrams, video chat, and email, and other useful control features. These features allow ASC to build maintenance screens that provide images of each component on the equipment (ie. valve, motor, etc.), video of calibration and maintenance procedures for the components, and links to the on-line or on-PC product documentation. See sample screens.

Expandable

Because of its multi-equipment features, CPC control systems can be expanded to control other equipment in the future. Many companies add other equipment from year to year and never have to purchase another system. No other company offers this advantage.

Configurable Screens

CPC has a built-in screen builder that is used by ASC's engineers and customers to customize the exact look and feel of the system. On installation, you can request additional screens and display features, and we won't charge you anything for it. No other product can match CPC's screen building capabilities.

Up to date

CPC is maintained and updated monthly to provide the most up to date features and capabilities requested by our users. Go to the Support section of this site and select the Documents & Downloads tab to locate and read about current CPC updates.