Vision systems can improve ROI

Vision systems can be used to virtually eliminate rework by making sure products are labelled and filled correctly, compliant and in-spec - straight off the production line. ROI will improve and lean manufacturing will be enabled as vision systems ensure that products are ‘shelf-ready’ as they exit the production line.

‘Waste’ product on food lines may have nothing to do with product quality. Instead, it may be due to the wrong colour lid, non-matching labels front and back, skewed or torn labels, a product not reaching the fill line, and so on. It’s a common scenario in many food processing plants - and is often just accepted as par-for-the-course. However, these ‘waste’ products drain the bottom line, both in resources and the opportunity cost of the time (the first time and the re-worked time).

The economic squeeze on manufacturing is not likely to weaken: while the dollar may (eventually) drop, pressures from imports and input costs won’t relax. So it’s up to food processors to improve their return on investment (ROI) by altering manufacturing processes.

Before even looking at cost structures and input costs, reducing waste product is an obvious way to improve the bottom line and ROI, as well as improve the product presentation on the supermarket shelf. Eliminating waste would be even better.

Lean manufacturing, that is, only using resources to create value for the end customer, inherently has no waste. So how to achieve this?

Quality assurance, objectively

Addressing quality assurance (QA) procedures along the production line is the first step in reducing waste product at the end, as well as, obviously, ensuring best on-shelf presentation in store.

At speed, there’s a limit to what human operators can pick up. Conversely, the sacrifice becomes line speed to allow people the time to check product properly. But human intervention for quality control is subjectively based. Ideally, QA needs to be objective instead - and as fast as your processing line.

The perfect way to have objective QA, that doesn’t hinder the manufacturing process, is through machine inspection.

Mark Dingley, head of the IDS Group within Matthews Intelligent Identification, says, “Machine inspection, also called machine vision, can play a very important role in ensuring food products that come off the line meet all the manufacturer’s quality and compliance standards regarding presentation.

“This means: each product has a valid code - whether that’s a date code, batch code, barcode or even 2D code; labels match front and back, are not skewed, torn or overlapping; closures and tamper seals are intact and on properly; lids and caps are the right colour for that product; products are filled to the proper spot, and there are no empty containers about to be shipped off to the retailer.

“And just on empty containers, vision systems can inspect empty bottles, cans, tubes, boxes, tubs and so on, to check they are the right dimensions and have no visual defects or contamination from the manufacturing process. This way, customers always receive clean, appealing containers to fill.

“In a nutshell, vision inspection solutions have three main benefits for food manufacturers they:

• save costs by reducing rework and wastage, resulting in more reliable product quality.
• automate QA, so it’s objective and not subject to human decisions.
• give greater transparency throughout the production process.

“All this is highly important in the current economic climate, which is forcing food processors to be a lot more efficient and lean in their manufacturing. Quality always needs to be at very high level to differentiate from cheaper alternatives. Knowing every product has left your plant in perfect condition is peace of mind.”

Dingley says vision inspection solutions are also used on secondary packaging, counting products in packed cartons.

“So if there are meant to be 12 products in a carton, you know you’re not going to be shipping cartons with anything other than 12 products in them.

“What’s even better, is that technology developments in the past few years have made vision inspection solutions much more widely accessible. As many food processors are small or medium-sized businesses, that technological accessibility has instantly given them a way to improve their bottom lines.”

Shelf-ready

Mark Dingley says there’s another use for vision inspection systems: ensuring products are ‘shelf-ready’. Shelf-ready has three aspects:

• compliance (meets all laws, such as having use-by dates, nutritional information and so on).
• design aspects (labels, for instance, are in the correct position, with the right perimeter gaps).
• the physical product itself (fill level is correct, the product count matches what it should be, so there are eight biscuits in a box if it’s meant to be eight, not nine or seven, and so on).

Shelf-ready packaging is gaining importance.

“For the retailer, there are the obvious benefits of lower costs associated with getting the product in front of consumers. For wholesalers, there are benefits in stock being quicker to pick.

“And for food manufacturers, it means their product is presented to the end consumer in the best possible way - right down to every product lined up correctly, and facing frontwards. This way, an end consumer is not going to by-pass your product on the shelf and buy the opposition product because they don’t recognise your product because the label is not facing the front.”

Creating waste

Vision inspection systems don’t create waste, they merely prevent food manufacturers from sending out less-than-perfect products.

Basically, when the system finds a product with labels out of tolerances, the incorrect-coloured cap, or a container not filled and so on, it rejects that product off the production line. That way, neither the retailer nor end consumer receives a defective product.

“So now what we’re finding is that food processors are saying ‘how and when did this happen on my line?’ They’re flying blind, so to speak, when they don’t have the capabilities to see - in real time - what’s going on, every second on their lines. It may only be at the end of a shift when they see x amount of defective product pushed off the line.”

Reducing waste

The missing link, Dingley explains, is to allow processors to see that statistical control data: how many products have the wrong lids or aren’t filled properly, when the tamper seal broke or that doubling up of labels occurred.

“It’s this process control data, that food manufacturers can then use to better their processes, thus reduce waste and improve the bottom line.”

So what is the missing link?

“It’s using a vision inspection system in collaboration with a PCM [Packaging Code Management] solution. Together, the vision system tells a product to get off the line, and the PCM tells the manufacturer instantly that it’s happening.”

Dingley says Matthews has already successfully integrated vision inspection systems with its in-house-developed PCM, iDSnet.

“A food processor can have a complete solution by integrating their coding and labelling systems with a vision inspection system, and all managed by iDSnet. These integrated solutions can automate the entire packaging process and increase efficiencies.

“For example, if a label is incorrectly positioned, is missing or is incorrect as indicated by the vision system, then iDSnet can trigger a process for this product to be directed to a different path for label re-application, and not just instantly head to the reject bin. We can integrate ‘hospital stations’ if you like, so these products are instantly dealt with, and don’t pile up, unsaleable.”

The other major benefit of linking a PCM with a vision system is that not only can processors now be assured that there’s a code on the product, but that it’s the right code.

“Ditto for labels,” Mark Dingley explains. “With iDSnet linked to a vision system, the entire solution can check if the label is present, in the right spot, is not skewed or torn, and if it’s the right label for that product. Does that label actually match the selected SKU [stock keeping unit]?

“Making sure there’s a label - sticking with this example - on the product is only half the issue. It’s as much of a problem having the wrong label on the product when it reaches the retailer as having no label. In fact, it’s probably worse.”

As it happens

Showing that a problem is occurring, when it occurs, is another situation when linking a PCM with a vision system truly shows its value.

“With iDSnet Enterprise linked in to vision inspection, manufacturers have the situation where real-time quality data on rejects is available in the form of live dashboards and reports in iDSnet Manager.

“As a food processor, it means you can monitor this quality information and if the number of rejects goes above the normal tolerance the issue can be addressed immediately to fix the error. Workers on the processing floor can monitor and access data on performance and quality through production floor scoreboards, in real-time. They can see, at any time, how lines are running, whether there are any errors or problems, and even how efficiently lines are running compared with the plant’s efficiency targets.

“iDSnet is all about managing product information. For example, knowing the correct use-by date and barcodes that need to be printed and applied, what label or labels are to be applied to the consumer unit, and many other important packaging-related data, by product. A vision system rejects defective products and maintains the quality standards set by the manufacturer. “Together, the solution will tell food manufacturers how many products have been produced and how many have been rejected. But importantly the total system will also tell processors why products have been rejected. And all in real time. Many current vision systems reject products, but don’t easily tell the manufacturer why. An operator can go to the machine and pull it out, but iDSnet Manager displays it in real time.

“With the way food processing, indeed any domestic manufacturing, is headed, efficiencies and lean manufacturing are musts. This sort of technology that gives plant operators the ability to see the real-time performances and efficiencies of their production lines is key to lean manufacturing.

“This solution, of combining vision with iDSnet and iDSnet Manager, gives them the type of real power that is very much sought after. We’re really on the cusp of the next phase in processing here. From what manufacturers are telling us, this sort of solution will be the norm, certainly within the next 10 years.”