04Aug

Cognex Lighting Advisor Tool

August 4, 2023 admin 2

The automotive industry demands precision pattern-matching and alignment solutions for automotive metal stamped components including frame pieces, safety equipment, motors, and engines.

Automation systems rely on machine vision to calculate accurate coordinates, which robots use to pick and align sheet metal blanks with tool and die surfaces.

Automated precision stamping occurs under strict tolerances and spans a broad range of part types, materials, and specifications.

Industry-leading machine vision technology calculates the coordinates and rotational offsets of multiple blanks travelling on a conveyor simultaneously so that a robot can accurately place it into a staging machine or directly into a metal stamping machine.

This allows manufacturers to work with different patterns and edge finishes and pick up parts at a repeatable offset during high-speed production runs.

Contact our sales team to find out more about the machine vision solutions we have available, sales@tracesol.co.za.Historically, lighting was often the last aspect specified, developed, and or funded, if at all. And this approach was not entirely unwarranted, as until
recently there was no real, vision-specific lighting on the market; lighting devices were often consumer-level incandescent or fluorescent lighting products.

Perhaps no other aspect of vision system design and implementation has consistently caused more delay, cost overruns, and general consternation than lighting.

Cognex offers a Lighting Advisor tool, this unique tool allows you to explore the effects of different lighting techniques and lighting positions on a range of typical items.

03Aug

Machine Vision Lighting

August 3, 2023 admin 1

The automotive industry demands precision pattern-matching and alignment solutions for automotive metal stamped components including frame pieces, safety equipment, motors, and engines.

Automation systems rely on machine vision to calculate accurate coordinates, which robots use to pick and align sheet metal blanks with tool and die surfaces.

Automated precision stamping occurs under strict tolerances and spans a broad range of part types, materials, and specifications.

This allows manufacturers to work with different patterns and edge finishes and pick up parts at a repeatable offset during high-speed production runs.

Contact our sales team to find out more about the machine vision solutions we have available, sales@tracesol.co.za.Lighting is one of the most critical aspects of machine vision applications.

Failure to properly illuminate a target can result in the loss of information and productivity.

To understand this, you need to understand the material that the object is made from, its size, shape and finish. The object’s color is also important; even if the inspection system is monochromatic (a red part will reflect differently from a pink part).

All of these characteristics affect how light is reflected, and may pose challenges in creating a good image.

Lighting can also affect how your vision system analyzes an object and produces a workable image. You need proper focus and illumination to create a good image.

Images with poor contrast and uneven illumination require much more effort from the imaging device, which ultimately increases the processing time, and can increase the number of incorrect image analyses.

24Jul

Precision Pattern-Matching & Alignment Solutions

July 24, 2023 admin 1

The automotive industry demands precision pattern-matching and alignment solutions for automotive metal stamped components including frame pieces, safety equipment, motors, and engines.

Automation systems rely on machine vision to calculate accurate coordinates, which robots use to pick and align sheet metal blanks with tool and die surfaces.

Automated precision stamping occurs under strict tolerances and spans a broad range of part types, materials, and specifications.

This allows manufacturers to work with different patterns and edge finishes and pick up parts at a repeatable offset during high-speed production runs.

Contact our sales team to find out more about the machine vision solutions we have available, sales@tracesol.co.za.Labeling or identification of steel products is an absolute necessity in today’s global steel market. But when, where, and how, that occurs can vary from product to product. The specific product (shape), purpose of the identification (in-house vs. customer specifications), stage in the manufacturing process (i.e., hot vs. cold), and what the labeling is subjected to downstream all have to be considered.

Note that marking or labelling methods can include: traditional labels (paper/plastic/vinyl); stenciling (ink/paint); stamping (die punch/dot-peen); RFID (radio frequency tags); direct part mark (etching/laser) as well as other technologies. And the generic term “label” includes identification via color-coding, man-readable text, barcodes and logos.

We can assist with the direct part marking, or supply solutions and various tracking systems which can track their items through various processes which include: Galvanising, Shot-Blasting, Paint Processes, Red-Oxide, etc. In addition to this, we can assist and supply various tracking systems – allowing the clients to have real time production feedback. In addition to this we can provide labels, which can be printed internal by means of a label printer as well as laser engrave tamper evident labels in house.

Once we have done a site visit to identify the customers’ traceability needs throughout their manufacturing process, we will ensure that the most suitable solution will be provided. Marking or Labelling as well as attentive RFID are being used to track materials through the production processes. The labels or markings (2D) are printed once all materials have been captured or allocated to a specific job. This Label or 2D code can then be scanned, tracking this through the various processes. Alternatively, the markings could be used for general I.D. – or once received on site, used to meet drawing numbers, allocations or positioning, etc.

Traceability Solutions offer various tagging systems, we have Tag solutions that cover various areas of industry, these include: Annealing processes, Galvanising, Asset I.D., High / Low Temperature environments, and more.

Our systems have been tried and tested within various sectors of the industry, even through the harshest environments with successful results. Having the biggest global network and brands ensures that we stay ahead of the market, introducing new products and solutions no matter the application.

19Jun

Steel Industry Marking

June 19, 2019 admin 2

Currently, the stainless-steel industry employs 114,000 people and is worth around R40bn to the South African economy from the primary production of stainless steel through to finished products, handling 500,000 tons per annum (tpa) in steel sheets, plates, and coils. South Africa imports a further 40,000 tpa of which 150,000 tpa is consumed, and 390,000 tpa exported. The global stainless-steel market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5% between 2018-2022, some of the key emerging trends driving the growth of the segments within the steel industry include an increase in the use of GFRP rebars, increasing production of secondary steel, and growing demand for steel and stainless-steel scrap.

Labeling or identification of steel products is an absolute necessity in today’s global steel market. But when, where, and how, that occurs can vary from product to product. The specific product (shape), purpose of the identification (in-house vs. customer specifications), stage in the manufacturing process (i.e., hot vs. cold), and what the labeling is subjected to downstream all have to be considered.

22May

Pharma Track & Trace

May 22, 2019 admin 2

Pharmaceutical counterfeiting is putting millions of lives at risk each year, and governments around the world are taking action to address this growing problem. For many, the principal weapon in that fight is track and trace regulations centered on product serialization – assigning and affixing a unique number to products and tracking them throughout the supply chain. Compliance with these regulations will require companies to invest in new technology, make major process changes, and potentially restructure their supply chains. To ensure that such long-term, complex projects move forward as serialization requirements are being phased in over the next 10 years or so, pharma companies and their supply chain partners must begin making changes now. Serialization regulations will push change all along the supply chain. Manufacturers will have to change the way they package, mark, and label their products, including redesigning packaging to accommodate new barcodes, serial numbers, and anti-tampering features.

EU and US regulators are ushering in a new era of pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution compliance. It’s expected to shake up safety and shift out counterfeit drugs from the supply chain. Regulators want to enforce the use of advanced traceability technologies to tighten up and standardize the distribution of pharmaceutical medicines so that the authenticity, identity and whereabouts of a particular drug product can be determined. According to the consulting firm Accenture, some two-dozen countries have implemented serialization regulations or are in the process of doing so. They encompass a diverse range of nations, from economically developed markets like Canada, Germany, South Korea, and the United States to less-developed countries such as India, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

Pharmaceutical track and trace systems provide the traceability of medicines across the supply chain, preventing reimbursement fraud and facilitating recall processes, another advantage is the availability of the obtained data store when evaluating health technologies. Many countries are looking for ways to adopt a medicine tracking system into their existing medicine delivery systems at a certain level. Traceability within the pharmaceutical supply means the ability to trace back a product right through the supply chain and being able to see when, and how a specific product was made and distributed through the supply chain. The new method being proposed is a so-called ‘track and trace’ system, using 2D barcodes on unit and shipper level and RFID on pallet level. The key reasons for deploying track & trace solutions are to enhance supply chain visibility, ensure compliance and reduce the frequency of theft and counterfeit products.

It may prove difficult for pharmaceutical manufacturers to comply with serialization regulations given the aggressive timetables in many countries. That’s likely to lead to supply chain bottlenecks, at least initially. Establishing collaborations with expert supply chain partners to find efficiencies and develop compliance capabilities now will be key to minimizing the time to deploy and ongoing costs as regulations roll out in the future

Traceability Solutions can supply both hardware and software solutions once we have analysed and understood the customer’s needs, thereby implementing the best level of serialisation needed. Our solutions can track and trace products from when they are marked or coded and verified through the supply and distribution chain up to the retail store and include marking, coding, scanning and a security solution for brand protection which offers full supply chain visibility. Our systems are suited for the pharmaceutical industry as they are robust, reliable, tried and tested and in addition, we offer a full turnkey solution – not just part of it!

15Aug

Retailers go Digital

August 15, 2018 admin 1

Retailers and manufacturers are being compelled to embrace hand-held mobile computing devices and real-time data analytics to bring the online-to-offline experience to digital users.

“The growth of online shopping is a huge opportunity for the omnichannel retail format to raise the bar and challenge retailers to provide greater convenience and drive customer loyalty,”

To address these needs, Zebra has introduced a range of cost-effective rugged mobile devices for SMEs in the retail sector to replace paper-based workflow. Other notable opportunities are the deployment of mobile point-of-sale (MPOS) systems that enable retailers to scan items, process payments and print receipts anywhere in the store.
Read about Zebra’s offering

We can offer you these solutions to help you make the move to digital.

10Aug

Choose the Right Tag

August 10, 2018 admin 1

KettleTag®Plus is the right tag for Hot Dip Galvanizing!

KettleTag® Plus is specifically formulated to survive the process of Hot Dip Galvanizing from start to finish.

KettleTag® Plus are attached to fabricated steel parts before galvanizing, via wire fasteners utilizing a pre-punched hole or slot in the tag.

The InfoSight Tag Printers – LabeLase®1000, LL2800 Series, or LL 3030 are ideal to use on these tags for high quality 1D & 2D barcodes, high contrast text and customer logos.

KettleTag® Plus remain readable after galvanizing for tracking and traceability.

KettleTag® Plus Properties:

Survives molten zinc dip
Resists caustic wash & acid pickling
Meets AIM specifications
Metal Substrate for durability and rough handling
Temperature Range is -22°F to 1400°F (-30°C to 760°C)
UV-Stable & Weather Resistant
Survives Zinc Chloride, Hydrochloric AcidHCl, Sulfuric Acid H2SO4, Sodium Hydroxide, NaOHandAmmonium Chloride

KettleTag® Plusis supplied in 3″ x 3″ (76mm x 76mm) and custom sizes are also available.

01Aug

Pinstamp® Marking Systems

August 1, 2018 admin 1

Fully programmable PINSTAMP® Single and Multi-Pin Marking Systems are based on Telesis’ original, patented “Floating Pin” design. A pneumatically driven and returned metal pin permanently indents the marking surface with either dot matrix or continuous line characters – even logos, graphics or 2-D Codes*.

Since the marking pin “floats” on constant return air pressure, surface irregularities up to 1/4″ are easily accommodated. And, no stress concentrations occur. Since the force of the mark is controlled by air pressure, product marking can be “customized” to suit most any application.

In this clip you see a pneumatically driven and returned metal pin permanently indenting the marking surface with dot matrix characters however continuous line characters – even logos, graphics or 2-D Codes* are possible!

05Jul

Telesis TMM4215

July 5, 2018 admin 1

The multi-pin TMM4215 marking system provides a 100 x 100 mm marking window. This light weight, compact marker is available in both fixtured (for integration) and hand-held configurations. This marker is ideal to mark gas cylinders, pipes, shackles, chains, hard metal structures, crane excavator parts, etc.

Key features:

Compact ergonomic design
Light: Marking head weighs 2 kg
Deep marking
Fast marking

Save time and money every day with Telesis marking solutions.

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