TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION ADVERTORIAL Fully-automatic smart vision inspection
A groundbreaking collaboration between SICK and AutoCoding Systems has resulted in the launch of the first fully-automatic smart vision inspection system for printed coding and marking on food, pharmaceutical and other consumer goods packaging.
T
Apprenticeship success continues for KNAPP
year training programme, KNAPP UK is preparing to recruit more young people to start in September. Corey (20) and Andy (21) – both based at the site of
A
KNAPP customer, John Lewis, in Milton Keynes – will graduate in June with HNCs in Mechatronics. Their qualifications have been achieved through a combination of study at Toyota’s Apprentice Development Centre in Burnaston, provided in partnership with Burton and South Derbyshire College, and on-the-job training as part of the resident engineering team at John Lewis’ Magna Park Campus. Commented Jason Clark, KNAPP UK’s Site Operations
Manager at John Lewis, “Andy and Corey have worked very hard to complete their apprenticeships and have already proven themselves to be great assets for our company in serving our client, John Lewis.”
KNAPP UK Ltd u 01865 965000 u
www.knapp.com
s another two apprentices – Corey Seagrove and Andy Rogers – approach the completion of their four-
he 4Sight Automatic Print Inspection System achieves significant savings in day-to-day
production stoppages for producers. A breakthrough innovation achieved in the AutoCoding 4Sight software, operating on SICK’s Inspector P smart vision camera, enables direct closed-loop communication of the printed message from any brand of printer using standard inkjet, laser or thermal transfer technologies.
The application, one of the first to be
developed using SICK’s AppSpace software platform, has delivered an error-proof, high-speed inspection system for printed codes such as dates, batch and line numbers. The new direct communication concept cuts out costly ‘nuisance stops’ and the time-consuming set-up that conventional vision systems need to be taught thousands of images and fonts, as well as the context of the surrounding packaging design affecting the inspection.
“Working with SICK and using the power of the
SICK AppSpace development environment, we were able to draw on the strengths of AutoCoding to think about print inspection systems in a completely new way,” explains Mike Hughes, Managing Director of AutoCoding Systems. “The result is a directly networked connection between the printer and the smart camera, coupled with the 4Sight software’s unique ability to self-optimise the code inspection process.
“As the artificial intelligence is already pre-trained in the application, the AutoCoding system knows exactly the printed message it is looking for. So, the system adjusts automatically when the printer changes to a new job.
AutoCoding Systems Ltd
u 01928 790444
u
www.autocodingsystems.com
Lawsons Timber creates space with multidirectional forklifts The latest Combilift trucks to be deployed at the builder’s merchant are electric powered models.
C4000 truck just over 20 years ago. As Lawsons continued to open more branches, it augmented its fleet and now operates around 35 of these versatile, space saving machines. Its latest deliveries from Combilift are electric trucks, in line with a general move towards electric power in a number of sectors.
L Lawsons is the largest family owned independent timber and builders’ merchants in
the South East and was established almost a century ago in 1921. It supplies the area with its wide ranging stock which includes fencing, timber, building and sheet materials, insulation and steel fabrication. It also offers services such as timber processing, treatments and grading, and brick matching.
Much has changed since the company’s
infancy when horses, carts and manual labour were used for customer deliveries and timber handling. Lawsons now runs a fleet of approximately 100 vehicles from 3.5 tonnes to 32 tonnes from its 17 branches in and around London, including a loft lifter for the efficient high level delivery of loft packages.
John Lawson came across the C4000
at a trade show in 1999 and saw its potential for space saving operation and its ability to replace a combination of counterbalance and sideloader models, which are much less manoeuvrable, particularly when handling long products in tight spaces. The ability to work in greatly reduced aisle widths is also a major benefit for a company whose premises occupy prime land in and around the city.
Group transport manager David Harvey explains: “Most of our branches are in built up
areas such as Camden, Acton and Wandsworth, where expansion of sites is nigh on impossible – due to cost issues or the density of surrounding buildings. We can only ‘go up not out’ with our storage so packing as much stock into any given area is crucial. Being able to configure aisles widths according to the depth of the Combilifts and going up to racking heights of 7.5 m means we can optimise space and cope with growth.”
Combilift u 00 353 47 80500 u
www.combilift.com
CONNECTINGINDUSTRY.COM/MATERIALSHANDLINGLOGISTICS MATERIALS HANDLING & LOGISTICS | MAY 2019 25
awsons Timber was one of the first UK builders’ merchants to spot the potential of Combilift’s multidirectional forklifts when the Irish manufacturer launched its original
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