Transform Your Manufacturing Services with Machine Vision Technology
At Alchemy Industrial, we’re always looking for new ways to combine 3D printing services, robotics, machine learning, and materials science to make our customers’ lives easier. Machine vision is just one tool in our arsenal redefining what’s possible in manufacturing.
Machine vision technology employs sensors, cameras, lighting, software, and algorithms to take in visual data and trigger appropriate reactions. This technology can improve quality and operational efficiency by monitoring manufacturing processes and procedures and reducing reliance on human intervention.
Applications of Machine Vision Technology
Some common applications of machine vision technology in manufacturing include:
Safety
Manufacturers leverage machine vision and AI to monitor and address safety concerns in a wide range of circumstances. Management can’t observe everything at all times, but with machine vision, they can keep a watchful eye on factors relating to worker safety, including personal protective equipment (PPE) use, risky behavior, and injuries.
Machine vision can also monitor the safety of machines on the shop floor, detecting spills, leaks, flares, theft, or foreign objects before they wreak havoc on production or put workers at risk.
Productivity
Machine vision technology helps manufacturers assess productivity and take steps to improve it. For example, management can leverage machine vision to analyze actual work progress vs. planned work hours and track worker movements to identify inefficiencies, congestion, and latency. Pinpointing these snags in productivity enables them to optimize operational costs and labor hours.
Machine vision technology also allows manufacturers to inspect equipment robotically and monitor for high heat, vibrations, and acoustics that indicate potential reliability issues. It can even track inventory and ensure that the right materials are used during a job.
Alchemy Industrial’s Machine Vision Technology Use Case: Robotic Sorting
Materials sorting is a critical task in manufacturing, enabling the removal of faulty materials to improve overall part quality. However, this process can be labor-intensive and have a high margin of error when conducted manually.
Manufacturers often struggle to find qualified labor to complete this task reliably.
Ongoing labor shortages combined with the ever-growing skills gap leave them seeking innovative solutions for upholding quality without sacrificing efficiency.
In these cases, Alchemy Industrial can help manufacturers combine machine vision, which detects faulty materials, with robotics, which sorts those materials out of production.
The camera system deciphers between materials that the manufacturer wants to use, and then an algorithm alerts the robot to the undesirable material to remove it. Tasks requiring constant repetition at high speeds for a continuous period are especially susceptible to human error and, therefore, perfect candidates for this type of solution.
At Alchemy Industrial, we’re experts in sourcing and combining technologies that can help you transform your manufacturing services. Contact us today to learn how we can help you integrate machine vision technology into your next product.
