Product category:
RFID hardware and software
News Release from: Cognex UK | Subject: ID readers at Borg Warner Turbo Systems
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 08 May 2008
Cognex ID readers support seamless
traceability
Cognex reported that Borg Warner Turbo Systems is using ID readers to identify the individual code on a component and achieve seamless traceability through the production process.
Borg Warner Turbo Systems in Germany is using Cognex DataMan 7500 and DataMan 100 ID Readers as well Cognex In-Sight 5110 vision systems in a parts traceability project The principal objective of using Cognex ID Readers is to identify the individual code on a component
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 28 May 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Vision devices speed up robotic assembly at Volvo
At the Volvo K?ping factory, seven robots assemble 17 components in 30 seconds. They use digital cameras and advanced, patent-applied image processing technology.
Pickled copper sheets checked by machine vision
Cognex says that Wieland-Werke AG, one of the world's largest copper strip manufacturers, has integrated Cognex's SmartView ICN web inspection system on its copper pickling line in Germany.
In doing so, Borg Warner Turbo Systems (BWTS) set up seamless traceability through its production process and beyond.
* Tracking 3.5 million products - BWTS manufacture around 3.5 million turbochargers/year.
More than 2,000 staff look after products, markets and development.
Further reading
Complex vision technology in an affordable unit
Cognex have introduced the In-Sight 2000, an entirely new type of industrial machine vision sensor at a cost usually associated with "smart cameras"
Vision systems retrofitted like CNC
Special purpose machine tools and assembly systems, with Cognex machine vision systems as an integral part, are being supplied to the automotive industry by Douglas Curtis Machine Tools
Vision system dedicated to electronic production
Cognex has introduced Display Inspect - a machine vision software and hardware package for inspecting displays, keypads, and enclosures on LCD and LED display-based products.
In early 2006, BWTS first launched its data traceability project with the aim of tracking data using core assembly coding.
The core assembly is the first production state of the turbocharger and it is to this that all remaining components are fitted.
Turbochargers are the small 'power stations', which have advanced the diesel engine more than almost any other technology, especially in cars.
Being exposed to temperatures of up to 1050 deg C and pressures of up to 3 bar, perfect production quality is essential, said BWTS.
One of the project objectives was to use Cognex DataMan 7500 and DataMan 100 ID Readers to identify the individual code on a component.
After several test runs, it was decided to use an adhesive label with a 2D matrix code printed on it so components could be coded quickly and easily.
Also - the code can easily be read, even when dirty, said Cognex.
* Cost saving traceability - from assembly procedures through to final inspection, all important production parameters are detected, inspected and the results stored in the central database at BWTS for further processing.
This action not only minimizes errors in production, but if defects were subsequently detected, the data biography of the turbocharger reconstructs the production conditions.
This facility prevents any future disputes arising from claims made by automotive manufacturers and limits the investigation to a minimum number of items.
The constant validation of these steps using data already collected from prior steps likewise contributes to error prevention, makes the data traceability system a proactive tool.
It represents an enormous cost saving for BWTS.
* Every code read at any stage - a PC is installed at every workstation.
At each one, operators use the DataMan 7500 to scan the code.
The data created can then be accurately assigned to the current core assembly.
The data system specifies working steps and inspection criteria.
Once work is complete, it decides whether to approve the component.
At another point, BWTS uses the DataMan 100 to control the data-management of the balancing-unit, which ensures the concentrically running of the turbocharger.
* Marking under harsh conditions - finally the turbo charger rating plates are marked with a Data Matrix code in accordance with the customer classification.
A Cognex In-Sight 5110 tests the Data Matrix code for code quality in a fraction of a second so that even after the adhesive labels have been destroyed by thermal action during production, the setting and assembly values detected can still be linked to the turbo charger number via the database even years after it was manufactured.
• Cognex UK: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
