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Best practices in specifying inspection systems

The following practices are recommended to those specifying inspection equipment:

1. Demand interchangeability. Make sure all the inspection equipment matches. Oddball machines can throw a wrench into the works. Typically, several employees really know the equipment. Consider that tribal knowledge. Tribal knowledge of that oddball piece of equipment is more rare than water in the Sahara; interchangeability helps ensure you won’t have to rely on it for survival. Can the data from one machine be transferred to other equipment? Can it stop upstream and downstream modules? External signaling with other equipment may be a requirement.

2. Check, and then check again. Have the operators check inspection equipment on a regular basis. QAS forms are in place for things they should check hourly; these checks are critical. Operators should be filling out quality assurance sheets all the time, tracking and tracing according to your regimen. Then you can consult the forms and see when there was a problem, or when one began. At times, you may run production without certain things or machines; if the operator doesn’t quite test correctly, you will be able to see that. So test and retest all the time.

3. Proper spacing is essential. For checkweighing, make sure you can space the products appropriately coming into the machine; this will assure your ability to weigh them properly. If you do not have control of your products, they won’t be weighed properly or will be falsely rejected because the equipment can’t read them properly. Conveyance speeds for inspection should be matched and rated to product flow to avoid a bottleneck. Make sure you select a checkweighter that can handle the pitch (i.e., the distance between packages) your business requires.

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