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Justifying an automated vision inspection investment

It's getting harder to justify manual inspection as new-tech systems such as multi-camera 'stitching' Cognex systems enter the market—especially for cylindrical containers, according to Jeremy Opperman of Clarke Engineering.

Fast, safe, reliable inspection of containers and labels is becoming more difficult to accomplish manually as food, pharmaceutical and other manufacturing firms seek continued increases in quality, compliance with standards and regulations and to brand image and protection. Still, the ability to justify the cost of automation is critical where pockets of manual operations exist.

Compared to manual inspection, automation can provide more accurate, validated data for 100% of packages moving down a line, and provides a grater probability of catching and removing every defect from the production stream.

Manual vs. automated inspection
Manual inspections typically rely on stops, starts, breaks and/or end-points in a lot or packaging run, Jeremy Opperman, PE and business unit manager with engineering and automation services firm Clarke Engineering, Indianapolis, explained to attendees of a session at the 2012 Pack Expo in Chicago.

Cost-wise, manual inspection operators may be earning a $50,000 or $60,000 salary, which must be measured against the cost of an automated system that could carry a hardware cost of $30,000 to $100,000 or more, in the case of "a very high mix of product characteristics" he says can be difficult to automate.

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does allow manual inspection, it can carry cost and risk, compared to a system where 100% inspection is performed. A 100% inspection could be in reality more of a 200% inspection in light of the time, slower speed and redundant supervisory steps involved.

Additionally, the risk of false positives or negatives varies from person to person in a manual operation, and there’s a "low chance of catching 'onesie-twosie' errors, Opperman said. In contrast, he explained that automated systems can inspect 100% of product with validated accuracy at speeds in excess of 800 packages per minute. 
 
Automated inspection allows packagers to run fast and with great confidence while adding real-time root cause analysis and other data-crunching benefits to prevent defects costly reworks and potential recalls.
 
 
New tech for cylindrical containers

Beyond just automating inspection, Opperman highlighted one of the latest technologies, which he said improved upon prior laser and image-based sensors, which have traditionally been limited to detecting relatively "grossly skewed" defects such as caps on bottles or stoppers on vials.

He highlighted new vision-based system applied to caps and closures from Acquire Automation, Fishers, IN—a sister company to Clarke Automation. The same technology can also inspect full-coverage labels such as, 360-degree pressure-sensitive labels or shrink sleeves on cylindrical containers. 
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