Quality, accountability and product reconciliation are production mandates at Eli Lilly, which is why the leading pharmaceutical manufacturer has automated its mechanical vial counting process. The company enlisted a system integrator that specialises in vision system integration, commissioning, installation, and validation.
Together, they co-developed a ground-breaking tray inspection system using a colour visual inspection process powered by In-Sight machine vision sensors from Cognex Corporation.
The quality inspection system combines machine vision with automatic tray handling, to enable 100% accountability of products
While Eli Lilly’s mechanical counter provided only vial count, the new system uses machine vision to perform a visual inspection that detects fallen vials, identifies missing flip-seals, and verifies cap colour on each vial. As a result, the tray inspection system improves product quality, in addition to increasing vial-counting efficiency for 100% product reconciliation.
The existing mechanical counters that were being utilised were prone to jams and that operators could easily misshandle vials around the counters resulting in a count discrepancy. This made identification of root causes for mechanical counter errors difficult to identify. A major benefit to the new tray inspection system is that root causes to count deviations are easier to identify, correct, and explain.
To meet Eli Lilly’s requirements, the vision system has to establish a tray count, look for vials that have fallen over, check that flip seals are in place, and inspect for vials with the wrong colour caps, called strangers. After evaluating a number of systems, the system integrator selected the In-Sight 1000C colour machine vision sensor from Cognex. The sensor combines a DSP-based vision-processing unit with a 640 x 480, 8-bit progressive scan digital vision camera in a compact housing with built in communications, and a library of vision software tools.
The system integrator tested several systems to prove which could do the job, then selected the vision system based on the results. Cognex tools were found to be more robust for this application than the other vision tools evaluated, and the powerful pre-processing filters helped to achieve the desired inspection results.
The test system features an Allen-Bradley PLC that handles sequential control and logic. Communications are handled via hardwired discrete I/O (input and output), serial data transfer and Data-Highway Plus. A PanelView 1000 mounted on a pivoting arm serves as the main operator interface for program selection, fault display and maintenance functions.
The system also incorporates an industrial PC mounted within the inspection hood. The industrial PC runs a custom front-end interface.
The result is a flexible vial counting and tray inspection system that can be run by a single operator with minimal machine vision knowledge, and handles a wide range of tray sizes with minimal mechanical changeover. The inspection can run Lilly’s largest tray configuration at over three trays per minute which equates to over one thousand vials per minute. The system speed capabilities are well within the packaging line speed requirements of 320 vials per minute.
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