Made-in-Sacmi vision and quality control systems, designed and built by a Division that has, since 1987, operated across the full range of Group businesses and installed over 4,500 systems worldwide. Now, thanks to further product innovation, the Division is launching new ‘total inspection’ solutions on the market. In short, these consist of new, integrated, modular and highly customisable machines that Sacmi will soon be bringing to Europe’s key Autumn fairs: Drinktec (Munich 16-20 September) and K 2013 (the international plastic industry fair to be held in Düsseldorf from 16 to 23 October).
Taking centre-stage will be the innovative CHS system, soon to get its very first public airing at K 2013. This is an evolution of the already successful CHS series for the inspection of plastic and aluminium caps and stands out largely on account of its excellent modularity, that is, the possibility of installing several image acquisition modules on a single platform to achieve, depending one one’s production requirements and requested quality standards, total cap control. More specifically, thanks to the new CVS360 module, the machine allows true ‘all-round’ cap control, including side walls and tamper band slit profile (the latter also being crucial for safeguarding the product against counterfeiting).
There is growing market demand, especially in the packaging industry, for quality control systems capable of providing an efficacious real-time response to production needs, minimising on-line waste and, even more importantly, eliminating the risk of finished product defects. In this regard, the CHS bristles with design solutions that provide both a significant increase in inspection rates (up to 2,500 caps per minute, 150,000 caps per hour) and enhanced machine analysis capacity thanks to more powerful electronics – equipped with the i7 processor – and Sacmi-developed software that ‘translates’ the acquired 3-D cap images into 2-D ones. The same user-friendly interface makes it easy even for non-specialised personnel to complete the set-up while a general rationalisation of the plant (the outcome of careful analysis of the most common faults on previous CHS versions) reduces maintenance costs and speeds up replacement of parts subject to wear: in short, lower running costs throughout the working life of the machine.
Founded in 1987, the Sacmi Inspection and Quality Control Systems Division has, for many years, not just acted as a ‘service’ to the various other Group businesses, but has also, and most importantly, been an autonomous provider of quality control machines and complete plants; indeed, the Division is a global player with efficient, high performance solutions that have earned worldwide market acclaim. One such example is the PVS 2B PET preform inspection series, another technological gem that Sacmi will be taking to Germany so specialized operators can get a first-hand look at its exceptional performance and technical advantages.
Belonging to the PVS machine family, this solution can sample-test no less than 1,200 preforms an hour. Thanks to its modularity, this machine too can be ‘enhanced’ with a wide selection of Sacmi-patented systems that inspect the bottle body or underside (gate included), the mouth and thread of the finish or the size of the finish itself; this is all done via a system of high definition cameras that allows in-depth analysis of the entire product – including weight control - thus eliminating the risk of residual defects and ushering in an era of ‘total inspection’. As on the CHS, Sacmi–developed CVS3000 image analysis software plays a major role by allowing automatic machine parameter set-up and also permitting personalised control of more specific preform areas. The ideal solution, then, for both integration on production lines and laboratory analysis.