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A|AX, ON - Responding to the cost, reliability and quality control

requirements of its customer, automotive supplier Lear Corporation is

adapting advanced vision inspection systems at its Ajax and Whitby

plants. The nearby plants supply Ceneral Motors of Canada's Oshawa-

based truck and auto assembly plants respectively.

Tim Lyons, plant manager of the two Lear plants, says the flexibility and

adaptability of vision inspection systems supplied by Markham, ON-

based Global Controls Inc. make them a good application for the seat

production facilities. Global Controls designs, integrates and maintains

turnkey vision inspection systems for the electronics, automotive and

pharmaceutical industries.

PROIECT GUTDELTNESLyons says Lear considered the Clobal Controls automated system for

initial application at its Ajax plant for two reasons. "We are always

looking for ways to automate our process and reduce costs. The second

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issue was that as a supplier we were looking for improvements in the

quality control process. Statistical analysis shows manual inspection is

only 85o/o effective. We continually need to find ways to tighten up our

inspection systems so that we become more reliable and consistent

across shifts."

Howeve6 there were strict guidelines. The cost of vision systems had to

be offset by the reduced cost of employee involvement in the inspection

process. The supplier also had to overcome the issue of "false failure", in

which parts are incorrectly rejected during the automated inspection

process. Lyons says if the false failure rate is high and occurs on a regular

basis, it becomes a nusiance and distraction for supervisors to deal with.

Lear's Ajax plant, with 96,000 sq. f t . of manufacturing f loor space,

produces several seats combinations that are installed in GMC and

Chevrolet extended cab and crewcab pickup trucks. The plant currently

has about 30O employees in five-day, two-shift operation that shipped

approximately 900 front and second row seats daily during May 2008.

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The first automated vision system application, which began in 2QO7,

involved a 12-camera station. Project leader Edward Lee of Global

Cont ro ls worked c lose ly wi th Mike Downey, a member o f the

continuous improvement team at Lear Ajax, during the project

specification, integration of the vision system hardware and software

and launch stage. Global Controls uses software provided by

CanaVision Technologies to l ink mult i-camera system solut ions that

are customized to ind iv idua l app l icat ions. CanaVis ion has a 1S-year

history of developing image processing algori thms to automate

inspection tasks that normally are performed by the human eye.

The system uti l izes a val idation matrix and adjusts readi ly to inspect

dif ferent seating systems without requir ing camera posit ioning

adjustments. The system also provides ful l part traceabil i ty with

images and data.

Pr ior to ins ta l la t ion o f the cameras, one employee per sh i f t was

dedicated to visual inspection of the back of the seat assemblies.

Now the cameras perform the visual inspection in an approximately

8 foot by 4 foot location near the plant's main repair area. A reduction

in manpower by two inspectors resulted from the instal lat ion. Lyons

says the camera system is fu l ly automated, record ing images

automatical ly as product arr ives at the inspection area. " l t is very

s imple to work wi th f rom a user s tandpoin t . "

"The vision system has improved our inspection process. We have

a good sol id system in place to catch any defects. The system has

helped us drive variat ion out of our process."

The same cameras apply the same set of cr i ter ia for each product

i nspec t i on du r i ng a sh i f t , r eco rd ing t e the rs , snaps , bo l t s and

orientat ion before the product is approved and shipped into f inished

goods inventory. l f the cameras f ind a defect, the system drives the

product into repair. After repair, i t goes back into the system for

another v isua l inspect ion by the cameras pr ior to sh ipp ing.

Lyons says his previous experience with vision systems was unconvincing.

"O the r sys tems tha t l ' ve seen i n t he pas t had a ha rd t ime i n

e l iminat ing fa lse fa i lu re . l f an inspect ion system fa i ls so many seats

on a regular bas is and there is actua l ly noth ing wrong wi th them,

i t becomes a p rob lem fo r ou r managemen t t eam and ac tua l l y

hinders eff iciency. This vision system that Global Controls provided

has been very good at min imiz ing these fa lse fa i lu res. "

EXPANDABTTITV"One of the good things about this technology is that it allows us to use

it for different applications. lt's expandable so it allows the customer to

purchase 2-3 cameras down the road and install them for specific needs.

It's a very adaptive process so your hands aren't tied once you put the

system in place." Adaptability of the equipment is also consistent with

the continuous improvement program at Lear.

Lyons admits that variation in the production process and product

components posed a chal lenge for the automated visual inspection

system at the outset . "Global Cont ro ls was ab le to adapt to an

engineering change on a part that we had. The vision system had to be

adjusted to match the new spec from the change of part."

TRAININGFor the initial project key Lear employees received basic training on how

the system would work. For a subsequent project, Clobal Controls will

train Lear programmers to work with its automated camera system. This

will involve less reliance on the supplier for minor work. "This will open

up our opportunity to expand the system over time and also achieve

some cost control," Lyons says.

Lear employees visited supplier headquarters in Markham to view an

offline model setup with seats prior to actual installation at the Ajax

plant. Lear also 6enefi ts from remote monitoring support of i ts

assembly line from Global Controls' headquarters. This allows for online

trouble-shooting with built-in diagnostics. Remote monitoring benefits

Lear because i t can cal l for assistance and get the support i t needs

within minutes. This is absoulutely critical in a f lT operation.

"What makes it even better is that when you have product issues that

are subjective in nature like, say wrinkles, you can redefine it (the inspection

acceptance criteria) after a period of time," Lyons says. "We have

improved our systems so much in the upstream production area that a

more consistent and reliable product is now leaving the downstream

shipping area after the cameras inspect i t ." The camera monitoring

systems can be easily modified to allow for higher levels of acceptance

requirements.

Lyons says he expects that the success the Ajax plant has experienced

with automated vision will carry over to the Whitby plantfor an inspection-

oriented camera application in the shipping area. "l'm very pleased with

the way the initial project worked at Ajax and that we can take it to the

front line at the Whitby plant."

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