Greg Hrinya, Associate Editor03.21.16
As printing and finishing machines become faster and more automated, inspection systems are tasked with the same responsibility. Cameras have become more intuitive and lighting has improved with the advent of LED UV strobe lights.
“Camera technology continues to advance and higher resolutions are available,” states Gerry Stanford, sales engineer at PC Industries. “For us, high-performance LED lighting is a major advance, and we’ve been using it for a long time. The ability to use variable intensity LED lighting is a big advantage, and the ability to process more data faster and communicate the results of that to database management, especially when we’re doing variable data, is a great development, as well as inspecting a job changeover on the fly. We do a lot of digital inspection, and we’re able to change over from one job to the next without stopping.”
“I think we’re seeing a trend toward digital variable data packaging,” explains Nick Khatri, group marketing manager at Lake Image Systems. “That is something that is moving in food, and certainly in the retail world, where they’re producing very customized, flexible packaging that is coming with personalized codes printed on-demand. Another trend centers around RFID, as customers are using RFID in tag labels for high-value retail goods.”
“We see the trend for inline print inspection equipment increasing dramatically due to the serialization requirements from the federal government for industries like pharmaceuticals and other life science-related areas,” says Tim Lydell, who came to Microscan after serving as the CEO at LVS. “The technology itself hasn’t changed very much – it remains a combination of cameras, lights and speed, with hardware becoming relatively more compact over the years. However, software technology is under continuous product improvement to address more applications, and more compliance requirements, even faster.”
AB Graphic International
AB Graphic International, a UK-based leader in converting machinery and finishing equipment, launched its first inspection rewinder in 1988. According to Tony Bell, sales director at AB Graphic International, the only way to inspect materials in a timely fashion was to use a strobe light. “These, of course, have now been replaced by cameras allowing inspection speeds to be as high as 350 m/m,” says Bell. “They now use servo driven motors for perfect web handling and can inspect a wide range of materials, including film, whereas originally we could only inspect paper and labels.”
The company’s fleyeVision range offers 100% inspection and has a resolution choice between 1024 and 8196 pixels in either color or black and white. Depending on the resolution, the equipment can reach speeds of up to 350 m/m either inline or offline. AB Graphic designed fleyeVision to serve as a standalone system that has the ability to be retrofitted onto existing inspection rewinders or integrated into the SRI.
“As with all our equipment, we are focusing on more automation, more camera inspection and greater efficiencies,” adds Bell.
The machine, which Bell describes as “an intelligent product,” can stop, log the detected error or automatically discharge the error based on the customer’s requirements. AB Graphic’s fleyeVision can be especially useful for pharmaceutical and security applications. “It doesn’t only inspect text and images, but can also check and grade all common bar codes, verify OCR fonts and it even checks Braille,” explains Bell. “Depending on the options bought, it offers a full protocol of all errors and their location within the roll.”
AB Graphic serves companies all over the world, with its largest markets in North America and Europe. The company notes, however, that its largest order came from Russia. “We are unique,” says Bell. “No one else in the world offers a rewinder with a camera all from the same manufacturer, so normally you have a camera retrofitted to the rewinder. The SRI was specifically designed for high-speed slitter inspection applications and includes a 100% print face inspection camera imbedded into the control. As both the camera and rewinder are manufactured in the same plant, it offers seamless integration of the fleyeVision system, which is particularly noticeable on setup and waste removal. If the camera detects errors, there is a user-friendly system for removing the waste. As the waste is removed, the camera is still inspecting the web and can be set up to stop at the point where there are an agreed consecutive number of good images, and it is at this splice point where it re-joins the material again. The machine operates with one screen, and the operator can toggle between camera and rewinder control.”
Advanced Vision Technology (AVT)
Israel-based AVT manufactures a range of products, from traditional offline inspection solutions to fully automatic, 100% digital inspection. The company provides a variety of inspection, quality assurance and process control solutions in the digital printing sector, as well.
AVT offers SolidProof and Helios S Turbo for the inspection market. SolidProof is an offline proofing system that provides 100% assurance for wide web, narrow web and sheetfed applications. The product is designed to automatically eliminate conversion errors and undetected defects during prepress. Helios S Turbo is an inspection system designed to help production lines reach maximum potential through increased printing and rewinding speeds. According to the company, the unit utilizes the market’s most modern machine vision technology to help printers get even more from their inspection systems.
In the digital market, AVT has a combination product called ZeroSet Automated Inspection Workflow. ZeroSet allows universal inspection, providing automatic inspection, even on short runs. “Since AVT’s primary focus is on inspection, quality assurance and process control, we are continuously introducing new innovations in this sector to the marketplace,” explains Guy Aviram, marketing manager for AVT. “Sometimes these are wholly-developed AVT solutions, other times they arrive in conjunction with a wide array of strategic partnerships we’ve formed around the world. For example, last fall we partnered with leading printing press manufacturer Nilpeter to introduce D2D Register, an innovative new market solution for fully automatic make-ready and running register control.”
AVT has installed more than 7,000 systems at customer sites around the world. Its products have often been used on pharmaceutical labels, due to the size of text and defect size, as well as the need to inspect variable data and variable codes. “Other markets also require attention and high inspection in other aspects such as color consistency, special finishing features and foils for cosmetics, body care and wines,” says Aviram. “Special varnishes and security features are becoming more popular and add to new abilities that can be provided by inspection cameras and sensors.”
Aviram also notes that many of the company’s solutions are dependent on the needs of the customer. “There are still differences between the needs of narrow web printers, which mostly print and produce self-adhesive labels and wide web printers printing mostly for the food industry. The applications, markets and workflows are different, as well as the needs for inspection,” he adds.
BST eltromat
BST eltromat, a Germany-based supplier of quality assurance and production optimization for the web processing industry, has been providing inspection equipment for over three decades. Its product portfolio includes web viewing, 100% inspection, inline spectral color measurement, register control, web guiding and process automation systems.
The company offers print inspection systems, ranging from basic point and shoot systems to sophisticated vision systems for quality control and process improvement. BST eltromat has found success with the Powerscope4000 and SuperHandyScan4000. These video systems are basic visual tools, allowing operators to see what they are printing in real time.
“As a global supplier, we have to be able to offer different variations of our systems to meet the specific needs of customers,” says Klaus Kraetzer, vice president of vision systems at BST eltromat. “Our expertise, coupled with our broad product portfolio, allows us to do precisely that – match the system to the specific customer needs.”
SuperHandyScan4000, as well as the IPQ-View, also provide features like defect detection, color monitoring, bar code verification and job reporting. TubeScan, TubeScan eagleview, Shark4000LEX and IPQ-Check are all 100% inspection systems that can be used on presses, slitters, laminators or doctor machines. These products feature line scan camera technology.
Kraetzer adds that BST eltromat’s equipment has evolved with the changing demands of the industry. “In narrow web, the most eminent are basic vision systems, but they are becoming obsolete. Full 100% inspection has come so far in the last few years that there is no longer any reason not to have 100% on every narrow web press,” he says. “Detection algorithms are extremely sophisticated. They work by incorporating the registration of the live image to a saved golden reference, and implementing defect detection for specified occurrences such as registration, ink spots/splashes/streaks, fill-ins or missing print, hazing, pinholes, color variation and so on. They have full visual capabilities and are allowing displays of the entire repeat in real time on larger screens.”
In the future, Kraetzer anticipates hybrid systems, which incorporate area and line scan technologies, to grab a stronger foothold in the industry. “With hybrid systems like our Tubescan Eagleview, combining area scan and line scan cameras into one compact housing, we are showing our trendsetting approach to the industry,” he explains.
Erhardt+Leimer
Erhardt+Leimer, which maintains North American operations in Duncan, SC, USA, has been providing technical services for more than 95 years. The company has 15 worldwide subsidiaries and offers round-the-clock telephone support for all its equipment.
Erhardt+Leimer specifically produces four pieces of inspection equipment for the narrow web market. Smartscan handles missing labels and matrix detection, while Smartscan-S delivers 100% web inspection. Elscan is used for web monitoring, and Elsis serves as a 100% surface defect detection system.
The Smartscan system is based on an easy-to-use user interface and strong algorithms featuring efficient lighting. Only two button touches (“teach” then “run”) are required for inspection, which prevents the need for detailed training programs. The company’s inspection equipment also features an industrial grade design. “Inspection technology initially was focused more on ensuring that defects were removed prior to shipping, hence most of the inspection systems were installed on finishing machines,” explains Todd Guzzardo, vice president at Erhardt+Leimer. “This means removing the defects on a doctoring machine, which were generated during various stages of web processing like printing and converting. The current trend is to restrict the defects while being generated by having an inspection system camera on the printing press and various stages of the web converting process. This captures and restricts the defects right where they originate and then finally, the web is inspected prior to shipping. This needs seamless transfer of inspection data from one machine to another. E+L has always had a cutting-edge over the competition by having a very strong workflow concept right from the launch.”
Guzzardo adds that customers expect inspection systems to perform other functions like measurements and color variation. The company’s equipment is also capable of inspecting variable data like bar codes and serial numbers printed on individual labels. This trend requires the equipment to recognize something different on each label as it passes through inspection.
Erhardt+Leimer provides LED lighting, as well as higher pixel resolution and faster scan rates. LED lights have contributed to increased reliability and a longer lifetime. The company’s proprietary TubeLight technology inspects complex web structures like highly reflective webs and holograms.
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The trend is toward having an inspection system that is very easy to operate and offers a simple setup procedure,” adds Guzzardo. “E+L’s latest introduction SmartScan is an answer to this.”
Lake Image Systems
Lake Image Systems, a developer and manufacturer of imaging and scanning technologies, offers Discovery MultiScan and Discovery MaxScan for the label and narrow web printing industry. The company, based in Tring, UK, describes Discovery MultiScan as “a suite of bolt-on camera and scanner based integrity verification and reporting solutions that integrate on new or legacy printing, inserting, bindery, plastic card or finishing equipment.”
“We have area scan cameras that just sit and look at a certain area, or we have more sophisticated line scan cameras that are typical lens-based cameras that fit on the equipment, checking the substrate as it’s going through the machinery,” explains Khatri. “If we need to look at a larger area, we use an area scan camera, which sits higher up and can scan line by line as the web is moving. We build up a picture in memory and we can start analyzing that. We have a whole range of different types of cameras.”
Discovery MaxScan, on the other hand, is a linear scanning technology that provides 600 dpi inspection resolution in full color. It is a single lens line scan camera that is useful for reading variable data and checking for print defects, even on challenging surfaces such as holograms and foils.
Lake Image Systems’ products are often used for integrity checking on transactional documents, as well as variable data and security printing. The company handles a range of applications, including labels, direct mailers, lottery tickets and even digitally printed packaging.
The company’s equipment also performs inspection of digital inkjet printheads. “I think we have one of the widest breadths in the inspection market,” says Khatri. “Variable data is really our strongpoint, and we’ve now also demonstrated that our print inspection or print quality tools are also becoming more capable. Combine these two together, and that’s where our strength is.”
The company has installed over 3,000 pieces of equipment worldwide. “I think our financial strength and the fact that we’ve been in the industry a long time helps our customer base,” adds Khatri. “We pride ourselves in offering solid service and support to our clients, and in many cases, we’ve had clients who have been with us for 20 years. We constantly develop innovative ways of addressing customer issues, and I think that’s why we’re viewed as one of the strongest players in the market, especially from the data verification area.”
Label Vision Systems (LVS)
Renton, WA-based Label Vision Systems (LVS), which was acquired by Microscan in 2015, offers a complete line of flexible label inspection solutions engineered under the LVS brand. The LVS 7000 inline print quality inspection system serves as its main high-speed inline inspection system, capable of blemish/defect detection, variable data checking, bar code reading and ISO grading capabilities. In addition, the LVS 7300 is a user-friendly, entry-level inline inspection system.
The company also provides the LVS 7500 systems, which are integrated onto or inside of thermal printers commonly used in operations and manufacturing. All systems offer custom inspection capability, as well as grading to the quality standards proposed by ISO/IEC, ANSI, and other organizations.
“We continually update our software for new industry standards and grading parameters based on changes from organizations like ISO/IEC and GS1,” explains Lydell. “In terms of product capability, recently we have added the ability to do duplicate checking on label data and inspect against databases to validate random numbering sequences according to customer preferences.”
The company’s equipment, which has been installed all over the world, serves a wide range of applications. It customizes the products to address ISO standards for bar code quality. “Our LVS product engineers and support staff have been working with the product, as well as the current industry standards for label quality and compliance, for over 20 years,” adds Lydell. “Customers choose us because of this legacy of product expertise, the completeness of our systems (including custom services for product integration and training), and the high level of customer service that we render.”
PC Industries
PC Industries, based in Gurnee, IL, USA, has been offering web inspection solutions to label converters and packaging printers for more than 40 years. The company’s product line ranges from web viewer cameras all the way to intelligent inspection systems. The line also includes products that monitor repeat length for stretch, especially in flexible packaging. These systems are applicable for narrow and wide web presses. Stanford also notes that the company is active with variable data inspection, which is beneficial to customers printing codes.
“We make a broad range from the non-intelligent systems to the highly intelligent systems,” says Stanford. “We employ different technologies, different camera technologies, sizes and shapes. Our top-level systems are typically put on press or on a rewinder, and they’re 100% inspection. Those are really driven by our development for pharmaceutical and bank note inspections. They’re sophisticated systems that can be equipped as needed to find defects of a size that the customer wants.”
The Guardian LSI is considered an entry-level, full inspection system used to monitor typical defects, missing labels and unremoved matrix. The product, which has been on the market for less than two years, utilizes a line scan camera to provide high-quality defect detection to customers looking to add inspection at an affordable price. “Its defect size is larger, and it kind of bridges the gap between a web viewer camera and a full feature, 100% system,” explains Stanford. “We also offer customers the ability to trade that in, if they use it for a year and decide they need more capability – like barcodes – they can trade in the LSI for a full-featured Guardian PQV.”
The company also offers the GV Spectro, which is an inline spectrophotometer with a web viewer camera. The new inspection product has the ability to program up to 50 points of color measurement anywhere on the web. The GV Spectro is often used with logos and other brand assets, as well as assist in monitoring the web at high running speeds. “You’re actually measuring color on the image rather than on color bars,” says Stanford.
“The number one reason customers choose us is application support,” explains Stanford. “PC Industries has the best after-sales technical application support, and we’ve really worked hard to maintain that as we grow. The second thing is technical expertise.”
Rotoflex
Rotoflex, a business unit of St. Louis, MO-based Mark Andy and a leading inspection and finishing equipment brand, features rewinders that integrate a wide variety of inspection options, from basic synchronized strobe lighting to full pharmaceutical quality vision inspection systems. The company also provides an advanced sensor based missing matrix and label detection system that is able to manage labels with unequal repeat lengths, as well as clear-on-clear labels.
Rotoflex rewinders are commonly integrated with workflow or roll-mapping applications, where press-side inspection systems generate a defect map that is sent to the rewinder. The defective area is automatically stopped at the splice table for repair or removal. The Rotoflex waste wind-up option can be used to remove large lengths of waste material while maintaining accurate length and label count. Very high rates of acceleration and deceleration, coupled with accurate stop positioning, ensure maximum production throughput.
“Many of the over 8,000 Rotoflex installations globally feature inspection capability in some form or another, so we have a long history of success in this area,” says Kevin Gourlay, vice president of Rotoflex. “Rotoflex also consults with customers during the rewinder purchasing process to ensure the correct inspection solution is implemented. We can integrate any of the major vision system supplier’s products so that the customer has a seamlessly integrated solution as opposed to an add-on.”
The Security Series features the latest advancements in label inspection and finishing, highlighted by single pass inspection capability with re-inspection after fault correction. The fully integrated modules are often implemented in the Rotoflex VSI, HSI and VLI product lines for new equipment and retrofits. This allows customers to configure the selected machine to meet a wide range of requirements in pharmaceutical compliance and high-security applications. “With machines like the high-speed VLI inspection, slitting and rewind system running at over 600 m/m, we are constantly pushing the inspection systems capability to keep up while maintaining optimum defect detection resolution,” adds Gourlay.
Unilux
Unilux, a leader in stroboscopic inspection lighting, offers 57 different models of stroboscopic inspection lights, including several designed specifically for narrow web applications on presses and slitter/rewinders. The company is based in Saddle Brook, NJ, USA, and has been providing strobes to inspect continuous processing lines moving at full speed for more than 50 years.
According to the company, its strobes give operators the ability to confirm quality at full production speed – from a quick check of print registration at each color station to the identification of the smallest flaws in print quality. The products are available in both handheld and fixed-mount configurations. “Our fixed-mount strobes cover the entire width of the web at a specific location to help operators see common surface defects such as streaking, skips and voids,” explains Mike Simonis, president of Unilux. “Handheld lights are used for visual spot checks anywhere along the line, making them a good complement to automated systems that trigger alarms.”
The stroboscopic effect on Unilux’s strobe lights is generated with short, bright flashes of light to create a freeze-frame effect so that operators can see the web as if it’s standing still. In 2012, the company introduced its second generation of LED strobe lights as an upgrade over the Xenon light technology. “Beyond the well-known energy savings, our LEDs provide a light output that’s more consistent with natural sunlight,” says Simonis. “By embracing the latest technology and leading innovation in the arena, we’ve created a better inspection light. The light from an LED strobe is more consistent and even across the entire inspection area, making it even easier to spot flaws at full production speed. They are more reliable because they have eliminated the need for replacement bulbs, as Xenon lights always seemed to burn out at the wrong time.”
Unilux equipment features a micro-processor based system that allows for changes in intensity, duration and flash ranges to 50,000 and above. The company has also expanded its coverage to security-based applications. “In label and narrow web manufacturing, where print quality is critical, it is common to see both strobe lights and web viewers used together to help companies deliver flawless products to their customers,” says Simonis. “Unilux strobes are even an ideal complement to the automatic systems, allowing operators to spot check print quality anywhere on the line.”
Simonis adds that the company’s service sets it apart from the competition. “We take the time to provide on-site visits to our customers to make sure they get the best product for their applications,” he says. “We’re also the only strobe manufacturer to offer global service and support for fast turnaround anywhere in the world and on-site assistance for projects that require additional support such as PLC integration.”