Manufacturing Automation Magazine The Gift Of Sight

M A R C H / A P R I t 2 O O 5

M A C H I N E

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PRESCRIMON FORPRODUCTMTYPharmaceutical giantcuts production time inhalf with CAM system . . 18

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FROM THE EDITOR . . . . . 3

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AT'IOMATION SOFN'VAREWatch and learn: A review ofsoftware designed for VisualBasic development anddebugging . . . . . . . . 10

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14 / March/Apil 20oG wwwlurcmationmag.com M anufacturing AUTOM ATI O N

M A C H I N E v rs toN

The gift of sight:A look at the benefits, obstactes and the deptoyment of vision technologies

8Y JOSEPH POON

7-Flh" machine vision systems malket is

I Browing, as more and more companies

I begin to use the technology to meet

their ergonomic, quality control and regulatory

needs.

Today, automatic vision inspection is being

used in the industrial automation industry to

streamline production, remove bottlenecks,

increase throughput, save on labour costs and

bolster productivity. Vision systems can work

around the clock, resulting in peak production

loads and faster order turn around. The

systems can act as a substitute for human

inspect ion when per forming s imple and

repetitive jobs. This may avoid injury and

costly mistakes that can be caused by human

fatigue and bias brought on by the

complacency of per forming tedious and

monotonous work. The technology can also

become an effective quality control and data

collection tool, since it delivers statistics, status

and trends data.

Vision systems can provide real-time images,

which enable users to monitor operations

on-screen or to record digitized images

with time stamps for later retrieval. Using

these images as a diagnostic tool can assist

ffoubleshooting, reduce downtime and

eliminate losses from spoiled products.

Compliance is also a large contributor to

the market 's growth. Most in tegrated

vision systems today provide solutions that

enable nranufacturers to meet regulatoty

requirements. Thc systems provide product

qual i ty , safety and secul i ty inspect ion in

manufacturing, as well as product tracking.

These applications are driven by global regula-

tory and enforcement policies that demand due

diligence towards 100 per cent inspection, and

thus ensure product security arrd traceability

from final packaging to delivery.

Regulatory compliance, especially for food

and drug production, implies that somewhere

along the production line a machine inspection

system is requi red, rather than us ing the

traditional human-based inspection station.

Original equipment manufacturers are also

beginning to require component and sub-com-

ponent genealogy and traceability information

from supply chain partners. Therefore,

machine v is ion systems are designed in

accordance wi th in ternat ional qual i ty

standards such as FDA guidelines, 2 t CFR Part

Despite the many benefits,

some manufacturers are

still skeptical and hesitant

to make investments

in vision systems.

I I , good manufacturing practice (GMP) and good

automated manufacturing practice (GAMP). The

systems play a critical role in enabling current and

anticipated regulatory requircments in food and

beverage. and pharmaceutical industries.

Similarly, industries such as aet'ospace and auto-

motive manulacturing face tightened require-

ments for unit level traceability lbr the sake of

product liability, wan?nty costs and regulatory

issues.

Despile the many applications and benefits,

some manufacturers are stil l skeptical and

hesitant to make investments in vision systems.

Statistical reports show that a high percentage of

new machine vision users have a hand time deploy-

parameters 'on- the- f ly , " wi thout

stopping the line, is as simple as operating a

camcorder, but flexible enough to cope with

process variations. Furthermore, multiple

recipe-driven software programs with

databasc management functions can easily

suppor t a f lex ib le automat ion l ine and

handle nrultiple product manufacturing. All

of thesc flexible features are only available

on PC-based machine vision systems.

Lastly, onc should never overlook the cost to

deploy and maintain a vision system before and

after it is installed. Total cost of ownership

(TCO) is a measure of all costs related to

technology assets throughout their lifecycle,

fronr acquisition to disposal. lt is not as

straightforward to determine some of these

costs as one might first imagine, since many of

these factors boil down to human issues, rather

than the outlook of an initial hardware cost.

The TCO puzzle is comprised of many pieces,

from a big picture perspective. The diagram

below shows a full spectrum of TCO elements

that should be considered when deploying and

maintaining a vision system in your plant.

ing the technologl, since some rcal-world manu-

facturing conditions easily upset a vision system's

ability to "see." These conditions include inconsis-

tent lighting, and variations in component shapes

and surface characteristics. In addition, a vision

system will not receive widespread acceptance as

an indispensable automation tool unless it

delivers a promising performance, no rnatter how

small a footprint it encapsulates and "smart" it

promises to be.

DEPTOYMENT GUIDELINES

Current machine archi tecture is moving

towards a more "intelligent" approach that

strikes the right balance between cost and

capabilities. One of the main thrusts of the

emerging adaptive technology is to make vision

systems easier to use, which means putting

customized high-performance solutions into

the hands of users without any development

work on their part.

Adaptive technology for vision systems is

part of an evolutionary progression that has

improved user interaction with machines. The

move to open standards and a Windows-based

common interface has made systems more

friendly and intuitive for inexperienced users.

Using point-and-click tools on-screen to adjust

As any industrial vision system depcnds on

the weakest l ink wi th in the whole

technological chain, a homogeneous turnkey

solution is the best approach to avoid failure in

v is ion deployment p lans. l t is cruc ia l that

machine v is ion exper ts are involved

throughout the entire development process so

they can react to problems that occut and help

companies anticipate unforeseen problems.

Companies that do not adopt machine

vision technology as an integral part of their

cont inuous improvement s t rategy wi l l

undoubtedly lose ground to companies whose

competing products are virtually guaranteed

by machine v is ion solut ions. Facing a

compet i t ive g lobal market , machine v is ion

can empower a company with the means to

successfu l ly overcome the ever- increasing

challenges of high labour costs, Third World

competition and a market demand for quality

products at a competitive price. I

loseph Poon, founder und president of Global

Controls, has been in the lield of machine vision

for more than l5 years. He is also a consultant to

ASM Pacilic Ltd., an assemhly equipment manu-

facturer for the global microelectronics industry.

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Info No. 19