Improved Quality Control for Children Nutrition Manufacturer’s High-Speed Bottling Line

By incorporating EPIC Systems’ automated vision inspection system, a global healthcare company was able to achieve its operational goals and set a new standard for quality control and efficiency for its high-speed bottling lines. This strategic enhancement has equipped the company to meet future demands with confidence, ensuring the continued success and competitiveness of its children’s nutrition and hydration products. 

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Hygienic Process System Design

Project

Overview

  • Industry: Food and Beverage, Nutrition / Hydration
  • Company Size: Over $25B in Revenue
  • Location: Indiana, USA
  • Customer Use Case: High Speed Bottling Label Inspection

Customer’s

Challenge

A global healthcare company’s division specializing in children’s nutrition and hydration faced a significant challenge when it acquired a new high-speed labeling machine. This machine was set to run at 700 bottles per minute, nearly 50% faster than their previous line speed. The increased speed presented a considerable challenge: the need for an automated vision inspection system that could keep up with the rapid pace while ensuring stringent quality control. 

The new system required the ability to perform six critical inspections: 

  1. UPC Code Inspection: Ensuring the UPC code remained intact and legible after the shrink process.
  2. Label Position Verification: Checking that the label was correctly positioned relative to the bottle.
  3. Label Height Verification: Confirming that the label was applied neither too high nor too low.
  4. Barcode Verification: Ensuring the barcode matched the expected data.
  5. Label Shrink Quality: Detecting unshrunk or improperly shrunk labels.
  6. Splice Tape Inspection: Identifying and rejecting bottles with splice tape on them. 

Additionally, the new high-speed line needed to be seamlessly integrated into the existing filling and packaging infrastructure, further complicating the challenge. 

Epic

Solution

EPIC Systems was approached to design and implement a solution that would meet the division’s stringent quality and speed requirements. EPIC developed an advanced automated inspection system equipped with four cameras strategically mounted 90 degrees apart. This configuration enabled the system to capture and analyze the bottle from all four sides, ensuring comprehensive inspection coverage.  

EPIC’s solution went beyond the standard quality checks by introducing two unique fail-safe rejection mechanisms: 

  1. Fail-Safe Rejection System: This system automatically rejected every bottle unless a clear pass signal was received from the vision inspection system. This ensured that no faulty bottles passed through the line.
  2. Dual Rejection Verification: The first verification confirmed that the rejected bottle had been removed from the line and placed in a designated bin or tray. The second verification checked that a gap remained where the rejected bottle should have been, ensuring the bottle was indeed removed from the line. 

These features not only met the customer’s need for high-speed inspection but also provided additional quality assurance metrics, elevating the overall reliability of the bottling line. 

Project

Impact

  • Increased Line Efficiency: The system’s ability to operate at 700 bottles per minute without compromising inspection accuracy allowed the company to maintain the high throughput of the new line.
  • Seamless Integration: EPIC’s solution was successfully integrated into the existing filling and packaging line, minimizing downtime and disruptions during the transition. 

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