AUGUST 3--Cognex Corporation (Natick, MA; www.cognex.com) announced that Canada's largest steel producer, Stelco Inc., has chosen its SmartView metals-surface-inspection system for its steel mill located in Ontario, Canada. The Cognex SmartView system will detect defects in coated steel used for automotive body panels.
SmartView is a state-of-the-art surface inspection system that automatically detects, identifies, and displays defects in metals and other materials as they are produced. Cognex has sold more than 400 SmartView systems since its release in February 2000. Marku Jaaskelainen, senior vice president and general manager of Cognex's Surface Inspection Systems Division, said, "We have been able to equip SmartView with features that best meet the needs of metals customers, including their need for real-time access to inspection data."
Stelco Inc. is involved in all major segments of the steel industry through its integrated steel business, mini-mills, and manufactured products businesses. Stelco has a presence in six Canadian provinces and two states of the United States. It supplies steel products to such North American markets as hot rolled, cold rolled, and coated sheet, plate, bars and wire rod, and manufactured products, such as wire and wire products, and pipe and tubular products. In 2003, Stelco produced 5.1 million tons of steel and supplied 4.7 million tons of steel products valued at $2.8 billion.
Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets machine vision systems. Cognex has shipped more than 200,000 machine vision systems, representing over $1.5 billion in cumulative revenue, since the company's founding in 1981.
