The Growing Role of Machine Vision in Manufacturing
According to an AIA Vision Online article, machine vision is playing an ever-growing role in the electronics industry, especially as components continue to get smaller and smaller. Machine vision allows manufacturers to monitor and measure the parts being produced to ensure accuracy while maintaining peak productivity.
At Keats Manufacturing Co., our role as a small parts metal stamping company makes us the perfect fit for machine vision integration. As such, we’ve recently incorporated a Keyence Image Dimension Measurement System. We purchased the system back in December, and spent the next three months training for optimal use. The Keyence system allows us to perform inspection of several dimensions of each part at the press of a button, providing automatic part processing and measuring. We are now able to measure small metal stampings quickly, accurately, and easily without any conventional variation results. Since most of our parts are less than 2 inches long, the system is ideal for our small parts manufacturing operations.
When looking for our first dedicated system operator, Keats had to look no further than our own staff members. We began the selection process by identifying some of our top machine operators, and putting them through rigorous testing that included blueprint reading, measuring tests, and interviews. Machine operator Josh Moreno led the pack, and was ultimately chosen for the job. His responsibilities now include writing programs for each part we produce using the Keyence system. Josh is one of the younger members of our team, with about 2 years of experience at Keats, but already has set himself apart as one of our best machine operators on the floor. We are pleased to be able to promote from within, and are proud of Josh’s accomplishments at Keats thus far. We look forward to seeing the results of his work with the new machine vision system.