• Login
    • Join
  • Subscribe Free
    • Magazine
    • eNewsletter
    Checkout
    • Magazine
    • News
    • Exclusives
    • Labels & Packaging
    • Markets
    • Technology
    • Equipment
    • Supplies
    • Buyers' Guide
    • Events
    • Jobs
    • More
  • Magazine
  • News
  • Exclusives
  • Labels & Packaging
  • Markets
  • Technology
  • Equipment
  • Supplies
  • Buyers' Guide
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Current / Back Issues
    Features
    Editorial
    Columns
    Digital Edition
    eNewsletter Archive
    Our Team
    Subscribe Now
    Advertise Now
    Top Features
    Pouch Converting

    Metallic Inks

    A COMMON $ENSE APPROACH TO COATING APPLICATIONS

    Print Management Systems

    Narrow Web Profile: Pacific Barcode, Inc.
    Breaking News
    Converter News
    European Label News
    Industry News
    Industry People
    M&A News
    New Products
    Expert's Opinion
    Live From Shows
    Top News
    Haney welcomes API to VIA Alliance

    Axon to present shrink sleeve label benefits for craft beer

    Reflex Labels Plus orders high-spec Mark Andy P7

    Pulse Roll Label Products launches PureTone in Vietnam

    TMI introduces enhanced coefficient of friction tester
    Beauty & Personal Care Labels
    Beer Labels
    Beverage Labels
    Flexible Packaging
    Folding Carton
    Food Labels
    Glue-Applied
    In-Mold
    Industrial Labels
    Medical Labels
    Pharmaceutical Labels
    Pressure Sensitive
    Prime Labels
    Promotional Labels
    Security Labels
    Shrink
    Smart Labels
    Specialty Labels
    Spirits Labels
    Wine Labels

    Axon to present shrink sleeve label benefits for craft beer

    Ritrama materials help olive oil label win Bronze Award

    AWA explores growing sleeve labels market

    AWA hosts International Sleeve Label Conference in Atlanta

    Primera announces on-demand RFID label printer
    Africa
    Asia
    Australia
    China
    Europe
    India
    Latin America
    Middle East
    North America

    Haney welcomes API to VIA Alliance

    Axon to present shrink sleeve label benefits for craft beer

    Pack Expo East highlights latest industry trends

    Reflex Labels Plus orders high-spec Mark Andy P7

    Pulse Roll Label Products launches PureTone in Vietnam
    Flexography
    Digital Printing
    Prepress
    Finishing
    Sustainability

    Pack Expo East highlights latest industry trends

    Reflex Labels Plus orders high-spec Mark Andy P7

    Flint Group will showcase latest products at Labelexpo Southeast Asia

    Primoreels acquires new Nilpeter FA flexo press

    Codimag appoints DewaFlex to strengthen Benelux support
    Digital Printers & Presses
    Flexo Presses
    Label Converting Equipment
    Label Finishing Equipment
    Prepress Equipment

    Reflex Labels Plus orders high-spec Mark Andy P7

    Primoreels acquires new Nilpeter FA flexo press

    Codimag appoints DewaFlex to strengthen Benelux support

    Uteco Group and Kodak announce availability of Sapphire EVO digital press

    Meech adds new Pulsed DC Controller to Hyperion range
    Dies And Tooling
    Flexo Supplies
    Ink & Coatings
    Prepress Supplies
    Pressrooom Supplies
    Substrates

    Flint Group will showcase latest products at Labelexpo Southeast Asia

    Ritrama materials help olive oil label win Bronze Award

    Flint Group prepares for expansive INFOFLEX display

    'CupCycling' with James Cropper

    CRON-ECRM to feature HDI Flexo CTP at INFOFLEX
    All Companies
    Categories
    Company Profiles
    Label Converters
    Trade Associations
    Add New Company
    International Buyers Guide Companies
    Meech Static Eliminators USA

    Andantex USA Inc.

    Alphasonics USA Inc.

    Label Traxx

    Chase Machine & Engineering Inc.
    Industry Events
    Webinars
    Live from Show Events
    • Magazine
      • Current & Past Issues
      • Features
      • Editorial
      • Columns
      • Digital Edition
      • eNewsletter Archive
      • Subscribe Now
      • Advertise Now
    • Breaking News
    • Buyers' Guide
      • All Companies
      • Categories
      • Company Profiles
      • Label Converters
      • Trade Associations
      • Add Your Company
    • Labels & Packaging
      • Beauty & Personal Care Labels
      • Beer Labels
      • Beverage Labels
      • Flexible Packaging
      • Folding Carton
      • Food Labels
      • Glue-Applied
      • In-Mold
      • Industrial Labels
      • Medical Labels
      • Pharmaceuticals Labels
      • Pressure Sensitive
      • Prime Labels
      • Promotional Labels
      • Security Labels
      • Shrink
      • Smart Labels
      • Speciality Labels
      • Spirits Labels
      • Wine Tables
    • Markets
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • China
      • Europe
      • India
      • Latin America
      • Middle East
      • North America
    • Equipment
      • Digital Printers & Presses
      • Flexo Presses
      • Label Converting Equipment
      • Label Fishing Equipment
    • Supplies
      • Dies And Tooling
      • Flexo Supplies
      • Ink & Coatings
      • Prepress Supplies
      • Pressrooom Supplies
      • Substrates
    • Online Exclusives
    • Slideshows
    • Experts Opinions
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Infographics
    • Whitepapers
    • Events
      • Industry Events
      • Live from Show Events
      • Webinars
    • Jobs
    • Resources
      • Supplier Gallery
      • Literature Showcase
      • Homepage Showcase
    • About Us
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of Use
    Product Reviews

    Inspection Systems

    From simple strobes to complex technology, web inspection is all about quality.

    07.20.05


    We live in an imperfect world. Defects are always with us. Still, that does not stop the label customer from insisting on perfection. That’s the reason inspection equipment is with us, and the reason that it has become a necessity, in all of its complex incarnations, for the printer and converter.

    Inspection equipment has been in use for years, relying heavily on the human eye aided by a strobe light or a camera. Optical and digital revolutions and evolutions have given engineers lots of technology to play with, and they have put it to good use in crafting devices that now can look at an entire web moving at full speed and spot a bad dot.

    In the narrow web industry, experts say, the need for extreme defect detection is not widespread, at least not today. But the market for the advanced equipment is growing steadily, and suppliers are keeping pace with ideas.

    Missing a defect — whether it’s a shift in color, a movement in registration, an ink blotch, a bruise on the printing plate that shows up on the label — can have its costs. Most dramatic is rejection by the customer; more usual, and still costly, is waste. Not catching a printing error quickly can result in hundreds of feet of expensive material rendered useless, the cost of which is eaten by the printer.

    “There have been some dramatic developments,” says Lance Shumaker, president of Advanced Vision Technology Inc. (AVT), in Atlanta. “A lot of changes have taken place in the inspection field that are here today. Converters are very knowledgeable about the benefits that today’s systems offer, and the new presses being purchased today almost always are equipped with full inspection systems. There is a definite need for higher quality, and inspection is really the only way to monitor the process.”

    “We are in the midst of a fairly large transition, from the inspection perspective,” says John Thome, vice president of marketing for BST Pro Mark, Elmhurst, IL. “Certainly more presses now have visual systems than those that don’t, in North America. Those that have them are producing a higher quality product more efficiently. Those without are at a competitive disadvantage.”

    Still, Thome says, some printers continue to run their equipment slowly and eyeball the job. “In this day and age that’s suicide. It just doesn’t work any more.”

    On the other side of that coin are the companies that have equipped their presses — not just the post-press inspection tables or inspection rewinders — with sophisticated machinery that watches part or all of the web as it whips through the press. Some press operators, reports one equipment supplier, are having a bit of fun lately with the advanced defect detection equipment: They set the tolerances of the system extremely low, so that the slightest defect will set off the alarm, and then they print — faster, faster. They want to test their mastery and deliver printed perfection that even an electronic eye cannot fault.

    “Most converters want a system that is capable of the complete, ultimate solution of present and wish-list needs,” says Dave Kunz, sales manager for PC Industries, Gurnee, IL. “The budget and realistic goals determine the solution. Any system worth considering must be expandable for future needs. These systems should also carry a written money back guarantee that covers the performance and specifications. Additional applications arise after the system is installed, and a vendor who will assist in customizing the system to these new applications will help the converter realize the maximum benefits.”

    Kunz says that the best way to think of inspection systems is in three groups:

    • Web viewers: non-critical inspection of labels being produced on a press. The operator observes a monitor and determines the action required.

    • Sampling defect detection: Inspection of labels wherein the main objective is to automatically catch recurring defects or problems. Action taken is determined by the output of the system (e.g., stop the press or sound an alarm to alert the operator). These systems are also called 100 percent repeat inspection systems.

    • 100 percent inspection systems: Inspection of critical path labels (e.g., pharmaceutical) that will not tolerate occasional defects. Typically the final inspection is just prior to shipment.


    The basics

    One device that is known and proven, and is probably the oldest of all available technology today, is the strobe light. They are still around and widely used.

    “Ten years ago people got a handheld strobe that covered a small section of the web,” says Mike Simonis, president of Unilux, Saddle Brook, NJ. “They’d take a look at the web, put it down, come back a bit later to check again. Now we have strobes that can cover areas up to two meters wide.”

    Strobe lamps still come in handheld styles as well as mounted versions. They vary in size by web width, and by application, depending on how close to the surface the lamp can be mounted. Some rewinders, Simonis says, are constructed such that the strobe can’t be placed too close to the print surface.


    Using a strobe for inspection allows an operator to find variations in registration or color, repeated skipping, voiding or plate plugging in the print, and blotching. This type of inspection still relies heavily on the human eye, a marvelous tool but not a machine.

    Strobe use is more common on rewinding machines, Simonis says, adding that more printers in the US are putting them on presses lately, as opposed to European converters, who still prefer off-press.

    “If anything, the strobe light has enhanced people’s knowledge of what they need to accomplish. It is used in conjunction with a camera, and it gives a quick reference point. It’s also a reliable back-up when the automatic systems go down.” Simonis adds that the arrival of large, expensive and highly capable automatic inspection systems “has not, in any way, shape or form, taken away from our business. On the contrary, we have grown. A lot more people can afford a strobe light than one of those systems.”


    On the press
    Camera inspection systems mounted on the press come in a variety of capabilities. BST Pro Mark’s Super Handyscan offers a split screen function (horizontal or vertical) as well as picture-in-picture to compare parts of the web. Thome says the new model has a quick zoom and positional memory, which allows the user to program a register mark and zoom to that spot with the push of one button.

    The company is also re-introducing its Genius digital process management system as Premius.

    AVT’s Helios
    TruColor Vision Systems, based in La Grange, GA, offers several versions of its press inspection systems. “Typically, the majority of the equipment is on the press,” says President Jim Doerr. “Converters feel that it’s better to go ahead and inspect quality in, than to have to cut out the bad later.”

    The high-end TG4000 from TruColor “is an active inspection system, for UPC bar code print quality, or monitoring color to ³E specifications,” Doerr says. “We can alarm our system so that when it detects a drift beyond the ³E tolerance on a color bar, the system will let the operator know.”

    Thome offers some advice for press operators who have been asking for flat screens (TFT: Thin Film Transistor) with their inspection systems: “You do not want to do that — yet. It’s possible, but the picture quality today is not acceptable. The images are staircased, and the viewing angle presents problems. When you get 45 degrees to the side the image starts to blur, like there’s a fog over it. When it comes to graphic applications they are just not accessible, but they are coming in the future.”



    Off the press
    Off-line inspection systems are widespread throughout the industry. They range from the table models manufactured by Web Techniques and Lederle, among others, to large inspection slitter rewinders such as those made by Rotoflex.

    “We supply the gamut, from the very basic to the very complex,” says Val Rimas, vice president of marketing and sales for Rotoflex, of Mississauga, ON. The company manufactures high speed stand-alone machinery that can undertake basic web viewing inspection or 100 percent, depending on the converter’s need.

    “There are area scan cameras and line scan cameras — and both have their strengths and weaknesses. Some users say that area scan cameras detect text flaws better than the line scan cameras. We have systems that can match color and inspect for color integrity within specified tolerances. At this point there is not a lot of that in narrow web, unless you are dealing with companies such as Coca-Cola or Procter & Gamble, where color is part of their image.”

    Area scan cameras, also called sampling or matrix cameras, look for repetitive defects, according to Shumaker of AVT. “It’s not looking for the one-up defect; instead it’s finding process defects. Our Jupiter system uses a sampling camera, which views a 7" x 9" area and breaks the web into a matrix. It goes around the whole repeat, monitoring and comparing against a master image.

    “If you have a color problem,” he adds, “it’s usually global, across the whole repeat. If it’s a registration problem it’s probably global, and the camera picks it up right away. If a line or a streak appears, the camera will pick it up in about four seconds as it moves across the web.”

    AVT’s Helios
    AVT’s Helios system utilizes a line scan camera, which views the whole width of the web. “It also creates a master image of the repeat and monitors for defects. That is classified as 100 percent inspection.”

    According to Rimas, Rotoflex and AVT are working today on a defect detection system that will flag an error on press, and when the finished roll is moved offline to the inspection rewinder the system will stop at exactly the point on the web where the flaw was detected during printing.


    Print Vision Systems, based in Lewiston, NY, also manufactures a range of inspection systems, including 100 percent inspection machines. According to President Ignatius Manning, the term is used loosely in the industry today.

    “100 percent inspection means just that. Proponents of sampling based technology might try to equate it with 100 percent inspection technology, but this is not so. 100 percent inspection technology is the only method that can identify both random and repetitive errors.

    “The performance of 100 percent inspection technology, in terms of web speeds achieved and/or defect sizes identified, is dependent on several factors. Users can define variable operational parameters to create the sought after results, as long as they are within a particular system’s operating range. Thus, 100 percent inspection does not equate with a particular defect size that the machine will identify.

    “However, a properly selected system will always allow a user to set system operation variables to detect a defect of pre-defined size each and every time, systematically, and without fail.”

    Manning recently published a white paper on the subject titled “The ABCs of 100 Percent Print Quality Inspection”, which is available at www.printvisionsystems.com.

    Converters with doubts about their inspection needs might benefit from John Thome’s basic advice: “Study your waste stream. Does 90 percent of your waste come from color errors? From registration errors? Take the time, spend a couple of months, analyze the waste.”
    Related Searches
    • Slitter rewinders

    Related Product Reviews

    • FIT-FOR-PURPOSE LABELS

      UPM Raflatac has introduced a range of next generation products to offer fit-for-purpose performance for the main end-use segments. The Fit range combines increased production efficiency and sustainability credentials with no compromises on printing…
      11.21.13

    • TIRE LABELING RANGE

      Avery Dennison launched at Labelexpo a new tire labeling range, which includes tread labeling materials and thermal transfer vulcanization labels designed to perform optimally in applications that pose the most difficult dispensing challenges. Avery…
      11.21.13

    • MDO FILM

      UPM Raflatac has launched a new 50-micron film for the personal care market. Raflex Pro Clear brings a no-label look to contoured, flexible and squeezable containers, and Raflex Pro White has high opacity as a foundation for high-quality decoration.…
      11.21.13


    • Print Management Systems

      Designed to enhance communication between converter and customer, print management systems have helped converters to streamline their processes, better manage their inventory and track their finances, among other features. What follows is a description of available print management products and the recent developments made by several companies in the industry.
      10.04.11

    • Release Liner

      Release Liner

      Demand for thin, film-based products is changing the face of the release liner market.
      07.12.11

    • Converter eCommerce

      What is Social Media and Why Should You Care?
      04.11.11


    • Flexo Press Economics

      Flexo Press Economics

      New press technology and Lean practices are cutting down time, labor and waste - and growing profits.
      04.11.11

    • Static Control Equipment

      Static Control Equipment

      Controlling static does not have to be a hair-raising experience.
      01.18.11

    • Platemaking Equipment

      Platemaking Equipment

      Digital platemaking systems share the field today with conventional equipment, but they are well liked and growing in popularity.
      05.07.10


    • Flexo Plates

      Flexo Plates

      With the increased demand for environmentally sustainable consumables, the all important flexo plate continues to evolve.
      05.07.10

    • Anilox Rolls

      Anilox Rolls

      Improvements in laser technology, coatings and finishing make today’s anilox rolls better equipped to deliver precise quantities of flexo ink to plates.
      03.30.10

    • Label Applicators

      Label Applicators

      Manufacturers of label application equipment provide brand owners – and converters – with machinery built for speed and efficiency.
      03.15.10

    • Doctor Blades

      Doctor Blades

      A simple tool can make the difference between a good flexo print job and a great one.
      01.15.10

    • Slitter Rewinders - AB Graphic International

      Slitter Rewinders - AB Graphic International

      Machinery manufacturers have developed a wide range of equipment, with an assortment of standard features and options, to meet the needs of the label converting industry.
      10.07.09

    • Web Inspection

      Web Inspection

      The perfect printed image must pass ever more stringent quality standards, and the industry is meeting the challenge.
      05.07.09


    Breaking News
    • Haney welcomes API to VIA Alliance
    • Flexographic Tech welcomes Interflex Laser Engravers as new silver sponsor
    • Label Traxx to promote digital optimization at Xeikon CafĂ© North America
    • Axon to present shrink sleeve label benefits for craft beer
    • INX to showcase Color Catalog at Craft Brewers Conference
    View Breaking News >
    CURRENT ISSUE

    April 2018

    • Pouch Converting
    • Metallic Inks
    • A COMMON $ENSE APPROACH TO COATING APPLICATIONS
    • Print Management Systems
    • Narrow Web Profile: Pacific Barcode, Inc.
    • View More >

    Copyright © 2018 Rodman Media. All rights reserved. Use of this constitutes acceptance of our privacy policy The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Rodman Media.