An Australian dairy company has been producing pure high-quality yogurt set in traditional pots for over 60 years. Their success stems from a commitment to quality control and the delivery of the most natural of products using sustainable, cost-effective methods. In keeping with this, the company uses a highly technical visual inspection system for the yogurt containers. A single imperfection in the container can create sealing or hygiene
issues that are incompatible with the company’s impeccable standards for
food production.
The need for automated inspections
Historically, the company relied on manual inspections for a large portion of their container quality checks. Not all minor defects in the plastic packaging were detected this way. These defects— split finishes, crumbles, deformations, blisters and thin walls — led to wastage, loss of product and longer production cycles. Even more concerning was the risk that defects could pass through undetected into the final line, contributing to efficiency and other issues. In a worst-case scenario, there could be issues with shelf life and freshness, and the risk of product recalls at significant cost to the company. Improvements to the manufacturing inspection process were urgently required to reduce cost and wastage, and help protect brand perception and image.
The company’s approach to safeguarding quality standards involved collaboration with a visual inspection system integrator (SI).
System description
Stringent specifications meant delivering accuracy within the bounds of tight tolerances. The SI developed a visual inspection system on fundamentally sound principles, which meant a good container should easily go through the production line without any disruption. Advantech QUARTZ cameras were installed to provide consistent inspection and real-time feedback on the quality of each batch of containers. Achieving this required the SI to locate and develop multiple camera positions within the plastic moulding and assembly line. Control cabinets provide operators with access to a user interface for system configuration and programming. This entailed determining the right location within the production line for the optimal positioning of the cabinets and their front-facing viewing screens. Cable routing needed to be discreet and out of sight, which was facilitated by the use of bespoke networking devices. In addition, a future-proof design was needed to ensure flexible utility, minimal downtime and improved production output.
System implementation
The SI developed a visual inspection solution for each production machine. Moulding machines and specific products had distinct considerations to be addressed, and the cameras were varied to meet these unique requirements. An AIIS-3400 compact vision system and MIC-7700 compact fanless embedded system with PCIe-1674 frame grabber card were chosen as the vision inspection solution. Control access was established through an industrial widescreen display (IP65 certified) using a slim FPM-7211W enclosure.
System components
- AIIS-3400 compact vision system.
- MIC-7700, Intel® 6th/7th Generation Core i desktop compact fanless system.
- PCIE-1674, frame grabber card.
- FPM-7211W, industrial monitor with PCT touch.
- QUARTZ, 0.3-20.0 Mega Pixel PoE industrial cameras.
A streamlined outcome
Implementing an automatic inspection system streamlined the whole manufacturing process. The inspection system also enables identification of equipment issues. These can be tracked directly to the source and quickly resolved to prevent trickle-down problems. Another benefit comes from the accumulation of data — the Advantech solution provides time-stamped images of defects for further analysis and refinement.
The inspection system allows remote access, so the company is able to monitor the system in real-time and perform inspection adjustments. Manufacturing operators are able to alter production schedules based on surveillance results. Technical teams can analyse data to ensure optimum production performance, keeping manufacturing efficient and within precise quality control standards.
The Advantech visual inspection solution now forms an integral part of the company’s ability to consistently deliver high-quality yogurt products to market, while minimising costs.
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Article courtesy of Advantech.
