Expensive recall campaigns or even legal disputes are every quality manager’s nightmare. As driving becomes increasingly automated, the responsibility shifts from the driver to the systems that take over these functions for them. This brings their reliability into focus. To guarantee this, a higher level of monitoring and traceability is needed.

As a result, companies spend an enormous amount of time and effort monitoring and documenting quality. All processes are carefully planned and controlled. To be on the safe side, this often involves collecting more data than would be necessary for liability reasons.

Today, the focus is on the production staff, who are intensively trained and focused on “quality”. However, high turnover rates and economic pressures often make it impossible to achieve the required level of quality.

Until now, the operator determined what quality was

In practice, it is often the case that the operator monitors the quality of a crimp visually. This can go well – as long as they are well trained and highly attentive. But this is precisely where we find the most important causes of quality problems. As a countermeasure, the operator can be better trained and provided with inspection systems that they can personally program. But here, too, the human being and their weaknesses influence the result.

The ultimate goal must be to relieve the production staff of work. Automation of the monitoring functions significantly reduces the operator’s workload and thus promotes reliable quality. There is a way to do this: parameterization. This allows quality characteristics to be clearly defined and monitored in a measurable and tolerable manner.

Fully automatic monitoring of crimp quality

Our Quality Tool Q1250 takes optical quality monitoring to a completely new level – fully automated for the entire crimping process. The predefined parameters are automatically loaded with the job. This means that changeover times are minimal and independent of the operator.

First it checks each wire end for correct stripping and seal placement before crimping and then it checks the quality of the crimps in a fraction of a second. The high-quality digital camera and the specially developed dome lighting ensure detailed, perfectly illuminated photos.

An innovative image evaluation algorithm uses intelligent color recognition to analyze whether there is insulation in the crimp and if conductor brush length is sufficient. The high-resolution color image is also checked for any crimped or protruding strands. This intelligent control and evaluation adjusts automatically to the changing conditions to deliver consistently reliable results.

Clear definition of quality characteristics via parameterization

Thanks to the parameter-based inspection, tedious visual inspection by the machine operator is no longer necessary. It is no longer the operator who determines what quality is, based on their objectivity and current mood. It is done by a specially developed evaluation algorithm.

The machine, together with your specifications, decides whether the quality is right or not. In addition, the automated measurement of these parameters and their mechanical evaluation means that they can be reconstructed, whatever the circumstances. This eliminates the need to record individual values. Where verification is needed, the complete traceability chain is thus available without gaps via the familiar machine interface.

Quality tool with scalable concept

We offer the Quality Tool Q1250 in a modular form. You can extend the basic version with new functions up to the maximum version according to your requirements. This way, you only invest in what you need at any given time. The Q1250 scalable is a decisive step towards intelligent and efficient quality assurance.

How do you assess the opportunities for your business? Do you have any questions? The author looks forward to hearing from you.

Quality Tool Q1250 Scalable