To provide our readers with much information onhow to obtain the right technology for their application as possible, we are profiling major machine vision and image processing distributors from across the globe.
In this article, Ben Castricone, Ph.D, President and CEO of Uniforce Sales and Engineering, discussesagriculture and food packaging inspection, the need for quick product turnaround, and different camera interface options.
Company name:Uniforce Sales and Engineering
Name and title of person being interviewed: Ben Castricone, President and CEO
Headquarters: Fremont, CA, USA
Year and location founded: 1986 – California
Regions served: Mississippi River to Hawaii (United States)
Types of products carried: Cameras, frame grabbers, industrial computers, imaging systems, recorders, software, video data encoders, lighting, lenses, optical filters, cables, adapters, extenders, and complex turnkey imaging systems
Companies whose products you carry: Matrox Imaging, Matrox Video, Imperx, Mikrotron, IO Industries, KAYA Instruments, Teledyne DALSA, BitFlow, Epix, Schneider Optics, Zeiss, Kowa, Midwest Optical, Emergent Vision Technologies, Phrontier Technologies, Opto Engineering, Advanced illumination, Goyo Optical.
How have market changes and customer demands changed the way that you’ve approached business?
First off, many customers no longer want just components (i.e. Cameras, lenses, frame grabbers, etc.) They want a total solution, which is great for us because we are an engineering company foremost – we solve imaging problems. So, our business has become more system oriented. We approach our clients offering complete turnkey solutions.
Secondly, customers want advances in automation – systems that communicate seamlessly with PLCs (programmable logic controllers) and robotics. It’s essential that our vision systems work hand-in-hand with PLCs and various robotic interfaces like our new Agriculture and Food Packaging Vision Inspection System, which is compatible with Denso, Kuka, Fanuc, Epson, ABB, Staubli, amongst others.
In what areas do you see the most growth?
We anticipate the most growth in the next five years to be in the food industry. In particular, packaging and inspection. That is why we now offer our new Agriculture and Food Packaging Vision Inspection System. It offers several levels of product and package inspection, providing pass or fail results based on visual inspection. The system is customizable to fit the client’s specific products and requirements and is capable of signaling a kicker to push a failed product off the production line, stop the line if necessary, or send a warning to the operator.
- A short list of anomalies and information that the system can recognize categorize, pass/reject or log includes:
- Product shape / color / count / container fill anomaly
- Package seal anomaly
- Package/container cover missing/incorrectly placed
- Empty package
- Misplaced/missing/incorrect label
- Barcode and text read/verify
- Production/lot number, date verification
- Total products passed and failed per SKU
- Saved images of anomalies
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