Components & tools
Elevating Standards: DISCOVERY SmartPQ’s Advanced Print Quality Inspection and Defect Detection System
Revolutionizing the landscape of print quality inspection, DISCOVERY SmartPQ stands as a comprehensive system, ensuring 100% monitoring and detection of printing defects. In an industry where manual inspection and traditional strobed video web viewing systems fall short, exposing businesses to the pitfalls of costly reprinting and operational strains, SmartPQ emerges as a high-performance upgrade, delivering unparalleled precision and efficiency.
Unlike conventional methods that monitor only small portions of the web, DISCOVERY SmartPQ offers a transformative solution with automated defect detection and live sensitivity controls. This advanced technology empowers operators to transcend limitations, viewing the entire web in high definition and selecting critical areas for real-time inspection, even at impressive web speeds of up to 350 m/min (1150 ft./min).
Key Features:
- SmartPQ ensures immediate identification of both randomly occurring and recurring print defects on web-fed printing presses.
- The system automatically detects a spectrum of print defects, including misregistration, die-cut variations, matrix residues, smudges, streaks, creases, wrinkles, and color variations.
- Operators are promptly alerted when repeating defects are detected or when a defect reaches an unacceptable size, enabling swift corrective actions.
This innovative workflow guarantees not only the prevention of defects before they impact quality levels but also a proactive approach to maintaining high standards throughout the printing process. By addressing defects in real time, DISCOVERY SmartPQ minimizes the need for expensive reprinting, reduces operational pressures, curtails waste, and, ultimately, contributes to higher profits and increased client satisfaction levels.
Key Features
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Web Viewing
- Uninterrupted operation for 100% full web inspection
- Full HD quality, multi display options: view multiple areas of web at different magnifications
- Colour coded view of each defect
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Defect Inspection
- Streaks, creases, hickies, smears, ink spots & voids
- Missing, filled-in or broken text & images
- Die-cut and positional variations
- Print mis-registration
- Colour Verification (Optional)/li>
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Easily Set-up
- Intelligent, fast master image auto training
- Advanced detection sensitivity controls
- Define print areas with different sensitivity setting
- Smart scan set-up for multi-lane label replication
- PDF Compare for master image setup (requires the post RIP’d Raster file)
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Control
- Operator light & audible alarms/warnings
- Rewinder jog/stop (where possible)
- Marking & flagging devices (Optional)
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Defect History / Reporting
- Log of all print defects
- Image archive (Optional)
- Roll mapping (Optional)
Typical Applications
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Web Printing/Labels (offset, digital & narrow web presses) – Cost effective replacement for existing web viewing systems for real-time 100% web viewing and inspection
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Regulated Packaging & Leaflet (Pharma, Food, Commodities) – Verification of critical data (dosage, expiry/sell by dates, barcodes) against master image to meet government and industry regulations.
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Laminators & Coating Equipment – Check for lamination errors (creases, tears, bubbling, adhesion issues) or coating errors for error free, high-quality packaging.
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Plastic Card Processing (financial phone/loyalty card processing) – check for scratches, printing and lamination defects. Scratch-off application errors
Benefits
- Add intelligence, capability and life expectancy to legacy equipment
- Ensure print meets clients print quality specification SLAs
- Improve operational efficiency
- Lower labor costs
- Upgradable – add sophisticated tools for complex defect detection and variable data inspection
- Liability protection
- Reduce re-work, waste and spoilage
- Enhanced accountability
- Proof of production and quality performance
- Meet government & industry quality regulations & specifications
Advantages
- Machine independent – Can be retro-fitted to most existing printing and finishing equipment
- Fast – 64bit architecture enables conditional & parallel processing for high speed, web, labels and plastic card production
- Scalable – Adapts to changing customer requirements. Modular pricing
- Reliable – 24/7 performance for uninterrupted, 100% inspection
- Flexible – Supports a multitude of verification & Inspection capabilities simultaneously on the same piece of equipment
- Supported – Comprehensive maintenance contracts featuring remote diagnostics
Resources
Print Quality Case Studies
More Case StudiesFlexible Packaging
This client is a large and long-established producer of paper and board laminates used for consumer packaging, within the premium retail sectors such as fine spirits, tobacco, confectionery and beauty. Laminated packaging boards are widely used for high-end folding cartons, packaging inserts and book covers which are fully over-printable on the high speed commercial printing lines.
CUSTOMER PROFILE
- To produce and deliver high volumes of metallic laminated material that met the strict quality specifications set by their customers
- The existing quality assurance process, where the operators manually inspect the reels during production, fell short of their customers’ requirements and increased production costs
- The company determined that they needed an in-line automated surface inspection system that inspected 100% of the roll.
SOLUTION SUMMARY
- Implemented Discovery SmartPQ with an 8K linescan camera, mounted on a Laminator, producing 1.5m wide laminated material running up to 300 m/min (985 fpm)
- Discovery SmartPQ configured to surface inspect defects greater than a specified size and frequency.
- Operators are able to view the entire web in high definition, and select critical areas to zoom in and view in real time
- When defects are detected, a tabbing device is activated to precisely mark the roll edge and the details of each defect (type, location, severity) are automatically logged
- Full rolls are mounted on an slitter where each defect is quickly located using the roll tabs and the defect is spliced out, as required, to meet the specification
BUSINESS CHALLENGES
- To deliver a solution that guarantees no duplication of tracking numbers on labels, within a 12 month period
- Existing process to manually inspect a sample of the labels fell short of their client’s requirements, increased production costs and introduced potential business risks
- The company determined they needed an automated inspection system that inspected ALL labels to mitigate potential risks
BUSINESS BENEFITS
- Automating the QC process to detect defects on laminates has significantly reduced complaint rates and has satisfied a key requirement for their major, prestigious customer base
- The SmartPQ system has also considerably reduced the time spent to splice out defects, increasing the operational efficiency and profitability of the laminating line
- Due to the growing confidence in the SmartPQ system, combined with the quality of the service received from Lake Image Systems, a second SmartPQ system is being considered for an adjacent laminator line
- By being able to offer high quality laminated board, the company has strengthened its position as one of the leading supplier of laminated packaging productions.
Being highly impressed by the way the system has performed and by the expert, responsive customer support we have been given, we are now looking to implement the Lake system on our second laminating line.”
Production Manager
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