The Cognex MVS-8500 vision system equipment is designed to ensure that each can of Campbell soup has the proper label by first verifying the inkjet-printed product code that is marked on the bottom of each can before the label is applied. These codes contain production information specific to each type of soup, and after the code is read, the appropriate label will then be automatically applied.
The MVS-8500 is capable of checking these codes while the cans are moving at the maximum production rate, virtually eliminating the possibility of product mislabelling.
"At Campbell Soup, we are very focused on the continuous improvement of our products and production processes," said Steve Demuri, Campbell Soup research programme manager. "The Cognex machine vision system gives us another level of safety, knowing that every single can is being inspected. Using Cognex systems, we can be assured that the right product is in the right can."
Cognex claims that its vision systems can be installed to inspect everything from soup to nuts. "Our success in this application proves the versatility and flexibility of Cognex's software," said Cognex chief executive Robert Shillman. "Reading codes in Campbell's production environment is very different from reading codes on the surfaces of semiconductor wafers in clean rooms, which has historically been one of our largest applications."
Campbell Soup Company is a global manufacturer and marketer of high quality soup, sauce, beverage, biscuit, confectionery and prepared food products with nearly $7 billion in annual sales and a portfolio of more than 20 market-leading brands.
High-tech vision inspection systems are becoming popular with manufacturers looking to speed up production and achieve guaranteed quality. Israeli firm Advanced Vision Technology (AVT) for example recently introduced a number of innovative products in its PrintVision range of inspection solutions.
These include PrintFlow and PrintFlow Manager software, which allow supervisors, quality assurance managers and production managers to use the technology to evaluate press performance and print quality.
PrintFlow is an optional tool used in conjunction with any one of AVT's PrintVision automatic web inspection solutions. The enhanced PrintFlow option features a versatile, standard SQL database platform.
This software has been reconfigured to provide comprehensive job information including the ability to study defects by type, frequency, duration, and even view images of the master and defect images. Operators can edit the report, accepting or rejecting detected defects, can print the report and keep it as a file for further use.
More improved options include RiteSeal 100 per cent cold seal inspection, pRegister for register pre-setting and control, ABCV - Automatic Bar Code Verification - and IDEal for delta-E colour measurement.