FACE TO FACE
The InspecVision team at Blechexpo 2023 in Stuttgart , Germany .
the export categories for both the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards and the Made in Northern Ireland Manufacturing Awards . We were also delighted to receive the prestigious Queen ’ s Award for Enterprise in
International Trade in 2021 .
A major achievement this year was the launch of our latest Opti-Scan 3D scanner . It has a 2m-wide measuring area and is currently the largest 3D scanner available in the market . We are proud to keep delivering innovative inspection products that help our customers across sheet metal markets .
Planar P70.20 installed in Germany .
environments . I think the trends we see towards digitisation and automation across the entire sheet metal fabrication industry will continue in 2024 .
Our customers face the same challenges that we do e . g . rising costs and skills shortages . They are now looking for solutions which streamline production processes and reduce their carbon footprint . Our highspeed , automated inspection systems do just that .
ISMR : Which investments have you made over the past two-three years ( machine tools , factory , staff etc .).
JA : InspecVision has made significant investment internally . It has focused a lot on its own automation of processes as well as building a more sustainable workflow within the company . This , I think , reflects what is happening more widely in the sheet metal market . People are turning to software solutions to address rising costs .
ISMR : What percentage of your turnover do you spend on R & D ? Which R & D areas are you focusing on now ?
Opti-Scan 2D system with AOI .
Measurement systems
InspecVision specialises in automated 2D and 3D measurement systems for inspection and reverse engineering of sheet metal parts at every stage of production , flat , folded , welded or assembled . OEMs and sub-contract manufacturers use its technology for quality control , improving efficiency and reducing waste .
The systems are high speed , low maintenance , can be supported remotely and are available in a wide range of sizes and accuracies . Products include the Planar 2D rapid measurement tool for 2D parts and Opti-Scan 3D , a 3D inspection system that can measure surfaces and edges in 3D . InspecVision ’ s Area of Interest ( AOI ) upgrade measures countersinks ; bevels ; chamfers ; blind holes and surface features .
“ Our advantage as a small business is our fast development cycle and our ability to bring products to market quickly when a gap in the market is identified . This allows us to also offer bespoke and customised solutions in addition to our standard products . Continuous development of our software ensures that we retain existing customers and attract new ones . Our systems save companies hours of inspection time , improve part accuracy , increase the percentage of parts inspected and reduce waste ,” the company explained .
ISMR : What are your views on the current global business climate / markets for sheet metal professionals ? How do you view 2024 ?
JA : There are always external factors of which we need to be mindful such as inflation , higher interest rates and new regulatory
JA : We invest around 12 % of turnover back into R & D , which is important for us to so we can keep innovating . In general , the industry has spent a lot of time developing solutions to automate production but there are many processes where it is not cost-effective e . g . small production runs .
At Blechexpo in Stuttgart , we demonstrated the first iteration of our guidance and verification system which uses machine learning , AI and augmented reality to guide manual assembly operations and ensure that they have been performed correctly . We see applications for this in welding , aircraft assembly and wiring looms .
2D and 3D inspection machine on InspecVision ’ s stand at
Blechexpo 2023 in Germany .
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