Machine Vision Guarantees 100% Quality

Machine Vision Guarantees 100% Quality

When automotive manufacturers, including Delphi and General Motors, began phasing in supplier standards that required 100% on-line parts inspection and 100% quality parts guarantees, Steve Morgan, president of PSI (Precision Stampings, Inc., Beaumont, CA), did some research and decided machine vision could provide that capability for PSI.

PSI manufactures microbe to mini *progressive metal stampings (some less than half the diameter of a human hair) for manufacturing applications in the automotive, military, computer, and hardware industries. PSI stampings transport critical electrical signals in devices such as anti-lock brake systems, fuel systems, telephones, computers, and military equipment.

PSI's previous quality control system, inspecting the beginning and end of each lot after completion, did not allow them to guarantee 100% quality. If samples from the beginning and end of a lot passed inspection, the lot was shipped. With up to 100,000 stampings on a reel, problems that occurred in the middle of a lot run went unseen. A system that could detect those defects was necessary for PSI to provide a 100% quality parts guarantee.

At a tradeshow in the spring of 1998, Morgan saw a machine vision system manufactured by PPT VISION, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN), and decided that a PPT system would be the simplest, most effective, and cost-efficient inspection solution for PSI. He purchased PSI's first PPT system at the show.

PSI die makers resisted using the system at first. They thought it was a 'fad', and asked why the company wanted to spend time and money changing an already successful process. Morgan finally convinced one die maker to try the system out, off-line in a separate room. That die maker was impressed with the results, and now all 18 die makers are ready and willing to implement it.

PPT Machine Vision systems provide 100% part inspection as stampings move off the press and onto the reel, allowing PSI to guarantee 100% quality parts. PSI currently has one single-camera system running, one 4-camera system being built, and is in the process of purchasing a second 4-camera system. According to Morgan, 'Soon we'll be using machine vision in both plants. The single-camera system will be moved to our smaller facility back east, and the two 4-camera systems will handle inspection on four presses here.'

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By implementing the PPT system, PSI has decreased scrap, maintenance time, and replacement parts, while increasing tool efficiency and the expected life span of equipment.

Before, with 15 to 20 presses running, as many as 200,000 parts could be produced before the off-line inspection team caught the problem and 'downed' the press. With the PPT system, the first defective part causes the vision system to shut down the press and alert the operator, who then corrects the problem and removes the defective part from the reel, completely eliminating scrap and re-work.

Charts and graphs, generated by real-time charting and SPC programs, enable operators to monitor the process for potential problems and adjust production equipment before producing non-conforming parts or having to 'down' a press for repairs. X-bar/R charts graph process performance relative to the programmed upper and lower tolerances, and histograms show how the tools are running and how the part is running in specific areas, allowing scheduled sharpening and tuning to maintain tooling and eliminate major crashes.

Explaining future plans for using machine vision, Morgan stated, 'Within two years, I plan to have a PPT camera system wired to servo controllers which will signal automatic adjustment when anything is going of spec, enabling the machine to fix itself while operating.'

Contact information:
Chuck Bourn, Director Marketing Communications
PPT VISION