September 2020

n FOOD AND BEVERAGE Machine vision ensures defect- free production of bottles S ince 1978, the Novio Packaging Group has been producing and distributing packaging products and systems for markets ranging from pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, to the food sector. The group, which has factories in the UK and Denmark, is part of, the world’s largest packaging distributor, Berlin Packaging. The Danish factory needed a flexible quality inspection system to cope with changes in the types of bottles that it was producing. The company started to search for a system that would help it to reduce defects down to one bottle in 100,000. Some vision systems that it looked at proved to be ineffective, because they were inaccurate and would not allow Novio to make adjustments or program the software itself. The vision system that it eventually chose incorporates lights and cameras set at different angles, enabling it to detect any defects such as scratches or dust that could affect the quality of the bottles. “To ensure that there isn’t any dirt and no black spots on the bottles, we are using an Omron FH vision system with four cameras to check the bottles we produce from all sides,” explains Novio Packaging’s technical manager, Peter Lykke. “The cameras inspect our operating conveyors, so we don’t have to stop them to inspect the bottles. “In addition, we use two cameras on top of the line to check issues such as the dimensions of the caps, and to ensure that there is no residual plastic or anything missing from the caps that might cause a problem (such as making them too tight). Our customers use air conveyor systems so the diameter of the bottle necks has to be very precise. It’s very difficult to check this accurately with any method other than a quality inspection system with a vision camera.” Any bottle identified as having defects is discarded automatically. This is important because if customers receive just one bottle that is sub-standard, they could send a whole shipment back, incurring substantial costs for Novio. One of the company’s biggest customers is a juice manufacturer, so it is vital to avoid any defects or items that could contaminate the juice or affect the appearance of the bottles. Novio also wanted the system to offer new changeover possibilities, allowing it to produce different types of bottle at different times. If the system wasn’t flexible enough, the company would have to resort to costly mechanical changes to ensure that it obtained sufficient images of each bottle. The Omron vision system allows Novio to cope with rapid changeovers while meeting customer demands for a broader packaging portfolio, involving smaller, but more variable, batches. It also helps to avoid delays in the development of new products. The scalable vision system can easily cope with changes in the production of different types of bottle. “One benefit is that after I’ve carried out the basic programming and set up the cameras, our technical staff can easily adjust the program for new types of bottles themselves,” Lykke points out. This saves Novio both time and money, because it doesn’t need to call in specialists or systems integrators to make any changes. Novio is leasing the vision system for a monthly fee. “Quality is very important, as we provide bottles for juice and any blemish could be seen as dirt by the consumer,” Lykke concludes. “I believe that it is essential to have an automated system to provide this level of quality, as it’s not possible for a human to inspect a bottle from all sides. Furthermore, if they looked away for just a second, a mistake could easily be made. We are therefore delighted with the flexibility and accuracy of the new system.” n Novio’s machine vision system inspects bottle from all sides to make certain that there are no faults or blemishes