Plastics News Europe - July/August 2019 - 15

quality control

"The automotive industry leads
the way in setting these standards,
and the other industries then follow,"
said Kayser, noting that the automotive industry accounted for 80% of
turnover at Neadvance.

"To remain competitive in a globalised world, the industry in Europe
must take advantage of the innovative technologies available," Kayser
said. "Today, they cannot rest on the
successes of the past."

Less effective

Leveraging data to
control quality

Manufacturers will therefore need
to do more than simply concentrate
on catching defective parts before
they are shipped out, if they are to
remain competitive. Increasingly,
this has led industrial companies to
turn to monitoring the production
process itself, rather than the products only. The idea is that if the process remains within certain prescribed limits, the resulting products
will be within specification, so that
sample checks only are required.
Yet this, too may prove insufficient
to meet the requirements demanded by their customers.
A global survey of more than 50
executives and experts was conducted by global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney within the
scope of its Quality 4.0 initiative, an
initiative which aims to provide executives with 'a basis for quality agendas that will be effective and relevant in 2025'. The survey identified
two main quality issues confronting
companies today: maintaining their
quality foundation in light of new
challenges and applying innovative
quality management methods. According to this report, four out of 10
executives feel that standard quality
methods are becoming less effective, and nearly half (48%) have observed an increase in quality issues
over the past 10 years. 50% say they
expect quality issues to increase over
the next 10 years as well.

july/august 2019

With the advent of the digitalised
environment of Industry 4.0, automated and connected systems have
been developed enabling real-time
analysis of streaming visual data and
providing manufacturers with real-time feedback. Intelligent vision
systems based on 4.0 concepts, such
as those built by Neadvance, provide
processors with the data needed to
monitor quality performance, including the costs of both good and bad
quality.
The NeaPlatform, for example, can
be interfaced with the customer's
quality assurance systems, said
Kayser. The use of artificial intelligence combined with machine learning algorithms in vision systems for
inspection applications enhances defect detection, boosting efficiency,
accuracy and productivity on the factory floor and saving time. The reports generated by the system can be
broken down according to product,
time frame and defects.
"Plus, an automated system
means 100% testing instead of spot
checks, and it eliminates the variability and subjectivity which occurs with
human inspection," says Kayser.
It can also save money, by helping
customers to reach the best optimised overall equipment effectiveness, he added.
"We do customised ROI calculations for each project, working

hand-in-hand with the customer.
Due to our experience and depending on the relevant application, an
ROI of less than a year can be - and
has indeed in some cases already
been - reached," Kayser pointed
out. "Costs are saved due to the
level of detail and immediate feedback provided about the process itself - data on labour, claims, production losses and production costs
are all available. Being able to manage and control these factors will
allow manufacturers to grow their
reputation and be viewed by their
customer as a reliable supplier," he
explained.

A bright future
The market for intelligent vision systems is poised for long-term growth
as these systems find application in
an increasingly broad range of sectors, from medical imaging to autonomous driving.
In industrial manufacturing environments such as plastic processing
companies, where automation has
become ubiquitous, quality control
has long remained a manual process. Manufacturers seeking new
ways to tackle quality issues are now
realising that artificial vision systems
can provide a way to reach a higher
level of quality performance. In an
era where product quality has become a prerequisite for survival,
combined with the fact that labour
is becoming increasingly scarce and
workers are no longer willing to perform the repetitive, tedious inspection tasks hitherto required, the use
of artificial intelligence in the form
of automated intelligent vision systems could provide the solution
manufacturers are looking for.

Plastics News Europe - July/August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Plastics News Europe - July/August 2019