‘Operators often don’t have time to check packaging for errors such as misplaced labels. Our label inspection systems flawlessly do this for 100% of the products, saving operators time,” explains Boy Meijer, our product specialist in Control & Inspection. “Additionally, we see an increasing use of robots that cannot perform visual inspections. Our systems can. The growing automation results in a need for more control and inspection systems.’
Recalls
Another reason to automate inspection is recalls due to, for example, an incorrect label. ‘If a label is applied to a certain product stating that it doesn’t contain an allergen when it does, a company has a major problem. This can cause significant issues, and hefty fines are not uncommon.’
Targeted inspection
Meijer advises companies to carefully consider the purpose for which a system is being purchased. ‘There is a lot possible, but it’s a waste to deploy the most comprehensive inspection systems if a simple solution suffices.’
‘Furthermore, we see that the required space in the production line to perform more extensive inspections often poses challenges. Antares Vision, the supplier of our inspection systems, has addressed this by combining multiple inspections into a single system. Such a combined system takes up only slightly more space than one of these individual systems.’
Faster setup with AI
Looking to the future, Meijer expects that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will also enter the realm of control and inspection systems. ‘A label inspection system often needs to learn first. Consider, for example, the location and readability of the barcode. If you’ve done that for product A, it could be faster for product B because AI automatically applies the settings for product B.’
