MMAANNIIFFEESSTTOOThe News Letter of Mapex Inspection

Allied DomecqAllied Domecq’s Scottish basedspirits bottling operation haverecently ordered a complete newprestige product bottling line.Mapex Inspection equipment wasalready installed on nine of theirfifteen bottling lines. MapexInspection are pleased that AlliedDistillers have chosen to fully equiptheir showpiece "state of the art"bottling line with 2004 specificationMapex Inspection equipment.Included in the scope of supply arefill level, filler valve monitoring,correct cap confirmation, capsuleconfirmation, label placementcontrol, bar code control,tamperproof seal verification andrejection.

ADL are the first major client toinclude the Mapex Data Collationpackage within the overall scope ofsupply. This data collection suiteincludes the presentation of datadirectly into Microsoft Excel.Microsoft Excel is seen as thesimplest form of data manipulationand provides Mapex Inspectionusers with a simple, flexible, easy touse, low cost alternative to SCADA.

STOP PRESS… Employment opportunities We urgently need to recruit a Technicians/Commissioning Engineers. Please email acurrent copy of your CV to enquiries@mapexinspection.co.uk if you are interested.

Scotch has faith in Mapex Inspection SystemsThe major players in the Scotch Whisky industry have put their faith in theabilities and efficiencies of the online inspection systems designed andmanufactured by Mapex Inspection. The industry whose traditional marketplaces have become highly competitive in recent years are constantlyunder pressure to maintain and improve on their quality whilst maintainingtheir margins.

Therefore the constant need to be ahead of the competition to maintain apresence in the high volume markets of the world. With bottle dressmaking a major contribution to market presence and the ever growing needto lower market costs the industry has out grown its faithful "brand Image"control servant – the line operator. Modern packaging methods haveincreased bottling speeds to the point that even the human eye cannotkeep pace with the inspection requirements of today's activities.

M & A Packaging Services have for ten or more years worked very closelywith the industry through out their major development phase helping themthrough their quality drive.

Firstly with the introduction of the laser level control system which is totallycompatible with the spirit industry and its product range. The system notonly produces constant accurate results within its functionality but it isachieved without fuss and the complex regulatory conditions required bythe traditional radiation based systems.

The technology employed by Mapex Inspection in its vision-based systemsis second to none in terms of analytical power and flexibility. The camerasystems, in addition to detecting faulty containers are able to provideinformation relative to performance trending to give the line engineers theopportunity to improve and maintain standards of bottle dress to a level notthought possible before.

The Mapex systems meet the highest inspection and speed requirementswith near 100% repeatability and efficiencies; giving the spirits industry asa whole the constant dress credibility they seek.

Pressure Sensitive Labeling (PSL)Recent highly successful trials at the largest scotch whisky bottling facilityon the inspection of clear PSL bottle labels has resulted in an order for fourMapex Inspection systems. The vision inspection system can show reliabledetection of flaws/blisters <l mm in size. Mapex inspection has included asstandard the opportunity for expansion these systems to include fill levelcontrol, and vision based control systems covering closures, strip stamps,and label position control.

There is nothingWET aboutWATER!!! … Water has become a commonpart of our lives in the UK. In thesame way that we used to considerwhich wine to drink we now give asmuch thought to water. In truth theindustry in the UK and Ireland hasboomed in recent years withsources springing up all over theislands. Competition is fierce notonly between our national brandsbut also with our near EC cousinsbut with brands from Canada andother far flung parts of the world.Those who are awake to consumerdemands and whims will survive.

The industry has moved in the sameway as its cousins in thetraditionally more dressy wines andspirits industry; after all when abottle of water is placed on aneating table it will receive the sameattention as the bottles containingthe more traditional alcoholicaccompaniments. The appearancefactor hasn’t exactly just arrived ithas been with us for some time, thedew drop has been with us for along time but what has just arrivedis the desire of the bottler to ensurethat his product looks good in anysituation. Mapex Inspection is wellplaced and equipped to provideproven inspection equipment thatwill ensure that only thosecontainers that reach the desiredquality standard will leave the line.The Mapex range includes levelcontrol, cap presentation, labelpresentation both patch and wraparound and is equally at home withglass and all plastic containers.

In recent months Mapex inspectionhave been awarded orders frommajor players within the waterindustry for fill level, filler tubedetection, label presence and positioninspection and in the mechanicalhandling field laning systems.

MMAANNIIFFEESSTTOO

Omron Vision PartnerOmron Electronics is a world leader in Industrial Automation. Omron UKhave recently established a comprehensive network of partners throughoutthe UK and Ireland. These partner companieshave been benchmarked by Omron intoseveral classifications based uponskills and services they can offer.

Mapex Inspection are pleasedto have been incorporatedonto this list as a UK VisionSpecialist Partner active inthe Process & Packagingsectors. of the UK market forIndustrial Automation.

Mapex Inspection expertiseextends to Omron sensors,plc’s, touch screens, servos,RFiD and vision. Mapex Inspectionare pleased to offer custom builtinspection, sorting and handling systemsbased upon the Omron catalogue.

For more information:

http://www.europe.omron.com/images/UK_en/216_21599.pdf orhttp://www.europe.omron.com/uk_en/cor/iab/home/partners/

Human Machine Interface (HMI)Mapex believes that the HMI plays an important role in the success orfailure of any inspection system; consequently for years it has offered itscustomers the touch screen interface. With the advancement in technologyaround this device Mapex hasn’t changed its mind; in fact we are justly

proud of the continueddevelopment of ourstandard HMI platform.Today’s interface is fast,ease to use, user friendlyand offers online Help. Theaccessibility factor withmultiple level passwordprotection offers authorizedentry into set up data,management information,self-diagnostics, and audittrails. Whilst offered in astandard format the HMIcan be custom configuredto suit client needs andfuturistic changes.

MMAANNIIFFEESSTTOO

FLO Laser LevelControl SystemsFor bottled products MapexInspection has led the way in filllevel control technology with itsLaser systems. The MAPEX lasersystem uses a single optimisedtransmission wavelength that hasan absorption level of greater than90% on water-based products. Acombination of wavelength andlaser power gives the system theadvantage of virtually ignoring theproduct container whilst reliablydetecting water based products.This means that the MAPEX systemis extremely tolerant to theintroduction of new product formatsthat may cause other systems amajor issue and can be used todetect levels behind opaquebarriers such as labels.

In operational terms no sensorcalibration is required duringproduct changeover and the systemis very tolerant to bottle format; thisadvantage remains true. Call us formore information we promise youwont believe your eyes!

Memory cardsThe involvement with clients whoare involved in a global supplyscenario brings the need specialrequirements. Special in the sensethat fast change over from one labeltype set to another. This has beenaccomplished by the addition of aflash card system to the PLC. Thisaddition allows expansion ofsystems (IE. Our Vision systems cannow accommodate a menustructure of >1000 products).Equally important is the fact thatthis extra module also providessecurity of programming - if in theunlikely event of a hardware failure;the program is held on the flashcard. Copies of the cards can beeasily made and kept of line forsafety purposes.

Communications All Mapex inspection devices have for sometime had an RS 232 facility asstandard, we have as a matter of course increased the communicationscapabilities of our system with the introduction of a modem option.

Mapex Inspection Technology Corner

"Smart" Rejection SystemsThe MAPEX Smart Rejecter provides a programmable blend of speed andfinesse. The Smart Rejecter is based upon a linear actuator originallydeveloped for highly accurate "pick & place" applications. In this instance theactuator acts via a tall pad designed to spread the load over the height ofthe container. This ensures that the push action is through the container’scenter of gravity even as this changes with varying fill level. The contours ofthe pad can be tailored to specific package formats.

The device provides forinitial "slow & gentle"motion until a feedbackmechanism registers theresistance of contactwith the bottle; the forceof the actuator is thenincreased to reject thebottle. At the end of theactuator travel a secondfeedback mechanismprovides a signal toinitiate rapid return to thedatum.

The Smart Rejecter is notaffected by variations infactory air supplyvolume, pressure, orcontamination. This isparticularly beneficial, as performance does not degrade with high levels ofrejects due to air starvation.

This technology overcomes the age-old problem of sticktion totally,because it is not pneumatic. The Smart Rejecter is programmable for bothacceleration and for stroke length. This allows different handling profiles tobe generated for different container formats. Several different programprofiles can be re-called from memory to optimize handling across a rangeof containers.

Mapex has installed more than 50 units so far most have been employed inthose applications where controlled rejection is critical. Many such unitshave sold into spirits bottling industry where safe handling of every rejectcontainer is of paramount importance.

Mapex Inspection has a full range of single and multiple segment rejectersto suit most of the packaging industry’s operational needs.

20/20 Hindsight ™……because HINDSIGHT is always perfect!Mapex Inspection provides a range of technologies for Inspection, Sorting& Handling for packaging lines. Included in the range is a NEW diagnosticdigital video system developed in the USA called 2020 Hindsight. Hindsightis designed to be the simplest high-speed video monitoring systemavailable on the market today

20/20 Hindsight is a continuous video historian with ScanBack ™ immediaterecall technology. This feature allows users to easily replay any element ofthe recording to isolate incidents / occurrences. The system is designed tocontinuously record digital images, with facilities for operator or automated"marking" of occurrences into a Video Event Archive. Thus a video recordingover a shift can be automatically marked by a Mapex Inspection systemevery time a "reject" is detected – the Engineer can then review the videorecording to determine the cause of the reject.

How many times have you stood next to a machine waiting for it to gowrong? – then when it does you can’t actually decide what happened! 2020Hindsight gives you the capability to capture incidents on video so that youcan review then frame by frame ( 60 frames per second ) at you leisure.

Image resolution of 640x480 pixels and user selectable controls for shutterspeed and frames per second. At 60 frames per second 2020 Hindsightallows 10 hours of continuous recording – increasing to 48 hours recordingat 10 frames per second.

The ScanBack ( patent pending ) viewer allows playback against time, oragainst marked events. ScanBack allows the user to scroll back through theactive buffer or replays by frame, second, minute, hour. The devicecontinues to record even whilst previously recorded material is viewed.Integration with a Mapex Inspection system online allows automaticmarking of events for future viewing.

2020 Hindsight allows an Engineer to monitor a production line and look backin time to see exactly what caused packaging jams or breakages. Byidentifying the cause of problems users can make proper adjustments toimprove efficiency and provide the confidence to run the production line faster.

MMAANNIIFFEESSTTOO

If you would likefurther information onany of the items listedabove or wish to beincluded on the newsletter circulation,Email us.M&A Packaging Services Ltd.Spring Lane North.Enigma Business Park.Malvern.WR14 1BU. UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1684 560099.Email: info@mapexinspection.co.ukwww.mapexinspection.co.uk