Nice-Pak Products Inc., the world’s leading producer of premoistened wipes, has installed vision-inspection systems on many of its production lines to ensure product quality and no missing components. No matter whose brand of premoistened wipes you use, whether to clean germs off your countertops or barbeque sauce from your fingertips, odds are high that Nice-Pak Products Inc., Orangeburg, NY, made and packaged those wipes. To keep its leadership position in the marketplace, Nice-Pak continuously invests in consumer research, product development and packaging innovations. Among those packaging innovations is Nice-Pak's use of low-cost vision sensors for a number of automated inspections. Read more...
The Chambersburg facility is one of the best in the Staples network, but when it was time to expand the break-pack picking operation there last fall, Staples installed a radically different fulfillment system in which robots bring inventory to order pickers. Today, the robotic fulfillment system operates alongside the DC's original pick-and-pass operation. And, the robotic system gets more than twice the throughput per picker than the conventional system. The new equipment is performing so well, that Staples plans to replace the remaining conveyor system with a robotic system this fall, making the break-pack operation in Chambersburg entirely robotic. Read more...
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Automation theory
Machine vision on packaging lines
From the earliest days of machine vision, the technology has been used to address applications on packaging lines. Even the most primitive machine vision technology was able to perform relatively simple tasks like verifying that the label was on the package, that it was straight and that the cap was on the container. The challenge was that a project or application was described in rather simplistic terms (suggesting that simple machine vision techniques would be adequate), and as one engaged in the application it was clear there were far more variables than most simple machine vision approaches of the early days could handle: various colors (hue, saturation, intensity) of the base package itself, various colors (hue, saturation, intensity) associated with the label, throughput, some mis-registration was acceptable, concerns included aesthetics, was the label the correct one, repeatability of the presentation of the package, etc. Read more...
Tutorial tech tips
Condition monitoring gets sophisticated New ways to gather information, including wireless, plus integration of information from top to bottom, is helping users cut costs and avoid costly downtime. Careful balancing of reactive, preventive and predictive maintenance is essential to successfully manage productive assets, but these activities cannot succeed without information. Monitoring and managing the conditions of machines, motors and power puts useful information in the right hands. Trends point to a greater use of a variety of technologies including wireless sensors, greater information integration and an increasing interest in contracting out for condition monitoring services and expertise. Read more...
Newsbytes
Regulated or not? Know good manufacturing practices (GMP)
A Control Engineering technology Webcast provides guidance for how and when regulations influence manufacturing processes. Successfully producing sellable products on a global market can be achieved by producing them according to the rules of good manufacturing practice (GMP). Read more...
World's strongest robot sets records
Applications that used to require at least two robots, lift stations or other lifting equipment can now be completed with one Kuka KR 1000 titan robot from Kuka Robotics. Recently earning a place as the world's strongest robot in the Guinness Book of Records, the 6-axis robot is said to be the first in the world to have a payload capacity of 1000 kg with a reach of 3200 mm. It is designed to handle extremely heavy lifting and manipulation applications. Its payload capacity gives production planners speed and saves them valuable floor space. Read more...
User groups keep Global 100 vendors moving in the right direction
No vendor could generate enough revenues to qualify for the Manufacturing Business Technology Global 100 without a sizeable customer base, nor could they stay on the list very long without taking continual steps to keep those customers happy. This inherent need to maintain high customer satisfaction rates has caused many of the Global 100 vendors to adopt what at one time would have been considered an unusual practice: collaborating with independent user groups. These organizations represent a cross section of the companies using a particular vendor's products, and their independent status means they typically tell the vendor exactly what it takes to hold on to customers. Read more...
New products
Inspection system
The Optyx®SG/P is described as a new optical inspection system designed specifically for makers of OTC and regulated solid-dose pharmaceuticals, with a special focus on softgels. Read more...
Symetix, 800/941-3701. www.symetix.com
Cameras
Two 3D camera series, the Ranger and the Ruler, are introduced as suitable for in-line inspection machines used in electronic, semiconductor, wood, robotic vision, plastic, rubber and food industries. Read more...
Sick, Inc., 800/325-7425. www.sickusa.com
Servo amplifier
The Sigma II Series servo system is expanded by the co. with the introduction of the Sigma FSP (Flexible ServoPack) amplifier. Built on the co.'s Sigma II SGDH amplifier power platform, the FSP is said to provide built-in position control for simple indexing operations, electronic gearing and cam-profile following, in addition to the standard analog and pulse input of the Sigma II series. Read more...
Yaskawa Electric America, Inc., 800/927-5292. www.yaskawa.com
FREE DVT Product Application Guide
DVT vision sensors offer
a full range of economical vision tools for inspection, measurement, code reading and object location. Packaged with user-friendly intellect software and built-in Ethernet connectivity,
these powerful sensors provide unmatched performance for color and line scan applications at
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