With the operating concept of the NMI Analysis module, pre-defined measurement workflows are adapted by the supervisor for the every day routine of the operator. The performance of a measurement can be automated to such an extent that only the project data need to be entered and the entire analysis process can run almost automatically. Due to these automated workflows, the operator influence on the measurement results can be reduced to a minimum. In addition to the quality gained, the time necessary for the measurement is reduced as well. Supervisors and operators can focus on their specific tasks.

The operation of the module is based on the following operating concept:

• Modifying and Managing Job Templates (Supervisor)
• Copy and edit pre-configured NMI job templates in order to adapt the workflow to your needs and to the operator routine task, manage job templates, inspect and approve job results. Note that under Job Mode you find pre-defined job templates for non-metallic inclusion assessment according to the standards. For more information, see Introduction to Standards.
• Running Job templates (Operator)
• Run NMI job templates created by the supervisor. Inspect und revise results if required using the results views.
• Optional: Modifying and managing standard templates (Supervisor)
• Copy and edit pre-configured standard templates in order to adapt the standard according to company internal guidelines for non-metallic inclusion assessment. Standard adaption might be also beneficial for NMI analysis of non-steel metals. Define individual parameters for minimum particle size, shape determination (globular & elongated), next neighbor relationships, and for inclusion formation.
• Note that under Manage Templates you can edit the find pre-configured standard templates: one per standard and method.
• For more information, see Standard Template Editor. For more information regarding available standards, see Introduction to Standards.
• Note that for the initial operations you must select in the Standard Selection workbench (in the first step of your job template), the desired standard templates.

Note: In the role of a supervisor it is possible to perform functionalities of the operator.

General Workflow preparations

A pre-defined job template is included in the software, when you have licenced the NMI Analysis module. In this documentation, we will explain the procedure according to the existing, pre-defined job templates. The following job templates are available by default:

As a Supervisor, you can access/edit the job template under Job Mode. On the left side, in the Categories list under Material Analysis, select NMI Analysis.

In the templates list, you see the available job template. When you double-click on the entry in the list, the corresponding job template opens. The job templates generally contain four major tasks:

• Filling out an Input Form
• In this step, the operator has to fill out the input form with user and specimen specific information, etc.
• Image Acquisition
• Image acquisition of the pre-defined specimen area.
• Performing the Analysis
• In this step particles are extracted by image segmentation and inclusions are grouped according to the selected standards. The detailed workflow is described in the following sections.
• Creating a Report
• After the analysis, reports are generated containing the job results with characteristic values according to the selected standards. One report per specimen and one report displaying the summary statistic of all acquired images of the specimen per standard.