Machine vision is a technology that has been vital to the manufacturing sector for some time now. One reason that so many organizations are excited about machine vision is that it can help automate the manufacturing process while also ensuring quality control.
This allows organizations to be more confident about the products that they create, especially since the machine vision technology becomes “smarter” over time. Machine vision offers 3D vision that can help inspect products and ensure they are up to par. While manual inspections can be time-consuming, machine vision technology can help companies speed up operations, reduce costs, and avoid human errors.
How Is It Used in Quality Control?
Let’s take an example of how companies might use machine vision technology at a particular factory. Let’s say that a product has been created, but there is a defect. The machine vision technology can detect that defect and tell a conveyor belt to slow down to correct it.
Evans Distribution is a 3PL organization that uses machine vision technology to optimize its warehouse packing line. The company’s system can both record and classify packages as they move through the assembly line. The system is trained to identify objects in various positions, lighting situations, and other variables.
Can It Offer Flawless Quality Control?
We all know that humans make errors. But, the truth is that machines can make mistakes as well. Machine vision may not offer flawless quality control, but it can help ensure that organizations are manufacturing quality products. More accurately, machine vision can offer “nearly flawless” quality control.
Possibilities for the Future
It’s no secret that quality control is critical for a company’s reputation. If an organization consistently distributes defective products, this leads to returns, lost revenue, and irreparable reputational damage. Many companies will continue to use machine vision to ensure that their products are of the highest possible quality.
This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the possibilities for machine vision technology. Machine vision can classify ANY object, so it could be used in many future applications, like face recognition or inventory management, to name a few.
It is impossible to tell precisely how machine vision will be used moving forward, but it will certainly be a relevant technology for quality control.
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