Fast detection & reliable inspection

CDA: From talking to machine manufacturers, what are the changing market demands currently affecting equipment requirements?

Gunnar Bischoff: Packs are no longer merely transport or storage boxes. They are dispensers, information sources, functional extensions of the product and even lifestyle accessories. They are an increasingly major factor in consumers’ purchasing decisions. For optical inspection systems, the resulting requirements are more pack-specific data and a growing need for high-density code verification and image-based quality inspection on high-speed lines.

This approach is the backbone of many logistics and quality control strategies, such as the EU’s Falsified Medicines Directive – the FMD (2011/62/EU) – or the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Annex 1-121. Pharmaceuticals manufacturers have only until 2017 to comply with the FMD by printing serialised 2D codes on each pack. GMP Annex 1-121 requires a check on the plug position on vials.

CDA: Is the 2D code requirement specific to the pharmaceuticals industry, or do these drivers go wider?

GB: A compliance deadline for the FMD requiring serialised codes by 2017 is certainly concentrating minds in the pharmaceuticals sector at the moment. But the tobacco industry has also begun to introduce serialised 2D verification for its so-called ‘dot codes’. What’s more, although the verification of alphanumeric codes – such as date and lot codes – remains standard, many printed promotions have started to use 2D codes.

CDA: How are you helping OEMs to meet these tougher regulatory demands and market expectations?

GB: We have already implemented several solutions for the inspection of serialised codes, for instance. Omron recently supported Kraus Maschinenbau in the development of a friction feeder. Here, the ability to verify serialised coding on each item was critical. The system provides 100% verification of GS1 codes and also inspects print quality.

It had to be easy to set up and adjust, plus the data capture system had to interact seamlessly with external devices like printers and management information system. As a modular, scalable solution, with the potential for integrating both high-density code verification and quality control, Kraus can adapt it to other products, further boosting their ROI.

CDA: How are the latest image-processing and verification systems keeping pace with today’s faster lines?

GB: In the past, inline inspection was a compromise between speed, precision, functionality, ease-of-use and cost. That is changing. Omron’s FH-series vision systems represent a breakthrough, taking expectations to a new level. Fast pattern-matching capabilities mean image processing speeds are increased and errors reduced. It operates 10 times faster than conventional systems today, benefitting both quality inspection and code verification. New algorithms address the effects of machine vibration and changing light conditions. They allow fast processing of multi-camera and high-resolution inspections and simplify finding optimal image processing parameters. All these factors mean we see a bright future ahead for intuitive, fast, precise and budget-friendly optical inspection systems.