UK VISION
countries including the UK.’ Williamson has also been influential in the machine vision industry as a whole. For 13 years he was chairman of the UK Industrial Vision Association and currently he is chairman of the Processing and Packaging Machinery Association, and also serves on the Board of VDMA Machine Vision.
Expansion and growth When setting up Pinnacle Vision and Vortex Vision, Williamson and Hearn both had an entrepreneurial approach and both companies enjoyed significant growth. However, the formation of Firstsight Vision heralded a period of consolidation, yet by 2006 they were enjoying double digit growth and have continued to prosper. Williamson observed: ‘We have traded through some volatile economic periods. Despite that, our sales have held up strongly, based partially on the expanding vision market and our sound financial base.’ Te growth is reflected in the UK premises.
The Firstsight Vision team at UK show, IPOT, in 2002. Of the team members, six currently work for Stemmer Imaging in the UK and one for Teledyne Dalsa, one of Stemmer Imaging’s suppliers
in 2005. Initially, Firstsight Vision and Imasys continued to trade under their individual names, but at the beginning of 2009, a rationalisation saw all companies adopt the Stemmer Imaging name. Now Stemmer Imaging has offices in ten locations: Germany, UK, Ireland, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Poland. Even with Willi Stemmer’s retirement in 2017, and the sale of the majority shareholding to Munich-based AL-KO, the Stemmer Imaging group continues to be managed by its long-standing management team (including UK founder Williamson), which owns nearly 25 per cent of the shares, to ensure that Willi Stemmer’s legacy lives on.
UK innovations A number of Hearn and Williamson’s innovations have been adopted throughout the Stemmer Imaging group. Williamson said: ‘Back in our Firstsight Vision days we decided to produce the Machine Vision Handbook. Tis served two purposes. Firstly it allowed our customers to see details of the products from all of our suppliers in a common format, so that they didn’t have to compare information from lots of different data sheets in different styles.
www.imveurope.com @imveurope
Neither David nor I would have predicted the rate of technological developments that have occurred over the last 20 years
Just as importantly, however, was the inclusion of several chapters of background technical information on all of the key technologies that make up a vision system. Engineers from all disciplines found this extremely useful and would keep the handbook for future reference, which meant that when they used it, there was also a good chance that they would consider buying components or systems from us. When we became part of Stemmer Imaging, the handbook was continued as the Imaging and Vision Handbook. Te handbook is now also available
electronically and most of the technical content is available in the Knowledge Base on Stemmer Imaging’s website, but there is still a strong demand for the printed version.’ Other innovations have come from the pair.
Hearn continued: ‘In 2012 we celebrated the refurbishment of our premises in Tongham with an open day. Te format for that included 30 seminars running over six concurrent tracks, a masterclass for our Common Vision Blox soſtware, and an exhibition from 20 of our suppliers. So popular was this event that the format was expanded into what is now the Stemmer Imaging Vision Technology Forum, which this year has been run in five European
Te company moved into Te Old Barn in Tongham in 2001 when Firstsight Vision was formed. In 2011 it expanded into the adjacent building to accommodate company growth. Ten in 2016 the company acquired an additional two-storey building on the same site. Tis now houses a customer evaluation laboratory, a dedicated training room and a break-out area for general discussions. Te firm has enjoyed remarkable employee
loyalty. Williamson’s first employee still works at Stemmer Imaging. Hearn remarked: ‘We have a number of photographs from company events through the years and a large proportion of people are either still with the company or have leſt and re-joined us. We strive to provide an enjoyable environment in which to work and reward our employees for company success.’
The next 20 years? ‘Neither David nor I would have predicted the rate of technological developments that have occurred over the last 20 years when we started out,’ commented Williamson. ‘Tis, in turn, has generated a robust and growing market. Tere is no doubt that embedded vision will be important going forward and there is great potential for vision applications as part of smart factories within Industry 4.0. We are also seeing the emergence of deep learning techniques.’ Hearn agreed: ‘We have enjoyed substantial growth over the last 20 years, but it is also good to see that other vision companies formed around the same time are also still around. We will continue to strive to be the best, but competition is always healthy and is a sign of an enduring market.’ O
December 2017/January 2018 • Imaging and Machine Vision Europe 29
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