In the food industry, ensuring the optimization of industrial equipment without compromising product quality is both fundamental and complex. To produce and deliver fresh products safely within a limited time, manufacturers and industrialists are increasingly turning to industrial vision systems and automated barcode reading.
The vision solutions we propose to integrate play a role at every stage of the supply chain, from inspection to verification, including the traceability of food products.
In order to preserve consumer safety, the integrity of food products must be accurately and quickly controlled before moving on to packaging inspection. Industrial vision systems rapidly inspect the appearance of products: detecting potential contaminants (debris, foreign bodies) and verifying the uniformity of products (in texture, size, shape, and color). Vision sensors, on the other hand, perform compliance checks (matching the product with the packaging) and measure the dimensions of food portions, while 2D vision systems precisely count the products.
Next comes the moment to inspect food packaging. Successful packaging inspection involves assembly verification and defect detection. Cognex vision systems are capable, among other things, of accurately identifying damaged or missing labels, verifying the integrity of the tamper-evident seal so crucial for preventing contamination of food products, detecting the presence/absence of the date and lot code, and finally, checking the integrity of printed labels, regardless of the complexity of the visual environment (such as humidity).
Identifying assembly defects in advance saves manufacturers valuable time, especially since a single failure can lead to the recall of an entire production batch. Industrial vision systems perform comprehensive quality checks ensuring the uniformity and integrity of assemblies, while vision-guided robotics speeds up the transition from production to packaging. For example, vision sensors efficiently verify the orientation and height of bottle caps.
Ensuring accurate information and the health of the final consumer is essential. Cognex code readers ensure proper labeling of food products (presence of labels with allergens), while vision-guided tracking and traceability solutions help prevent packaging errors and quickly locate recalled products.
In addition to ensuring the quality of production, manufacturers must streamline and optimize order processing, package storage, and product distribution to ensure timely shipment. Cognex vision systems and code readers automate pallet and batch processing, and are capable of reading printed codes even when covered with reflective material, saving considerable time for operators and manufacturers.
Cognex industrial vision systems and code readers contribute to a complete and efficient automation of agri-food businesses.