Vision Inspection Stations to Remove Defective Anodes and Stems from Production and Provide History for Process Improvements
MONTREAL, March 17, 2004 -- The Invensys Vision & Robotics group today announced it has received a (CANADIAN)$1.1 million order from Aluminerie Alouette Inc., an aluminum company based in Quebec. Aluminerie Alouette will install two vision inspection stations to examine baked anodes before use in production and anode stems after refurbishment. The inspection stations are part of the Alouette Phase II plant expansion project at the Sept-Îles, Quebec plant.
The new equipment will assist the company to reach its objective to more than double plant output.The anode inspection station automatically captures a full image of anodes conveyed from the baking furnace and analyzes them for defects, including cracks, missing parts, burn traces and rod hole symmetry. The station performs inspection at line speeds and prevents defective anodes from moving into production. The rod inspection station is used to examine stem-rod assemblies that have been refurbished after production to ensure quality. After an anode has been consumed during production, the resulting butt is removed and the stem-rod assembly is refurbished and recycled back into production.
Each stem has six rods and rod-ends, or stubs, which are bonded with the anode. The inspection station will check the stubs for several defects including bent or missing stubs and improper length to assure the assembly is properly refurbished and is suitable for production. "The rod inspection station will enable us to maximize the anode stem lifecycle to reduce operating costs," said Sébastien Charest, sector leader at the Alouette Phase II carbon plant. "And with the anode inspection station we can now perform correlation between the anode forming and baking process and the resulting anode quality.
In addition, it will provide a consistent, high-quality result and electronic defect history that we will use to analyze and improve our processes." "The Alouette plant expansion leverages our capabilities in machine vision, robotics and our experience in previous anode inspection projects," said Charles Magnan, vice president of the Invensys Vision & Robotics business unit. "The systems will enable Alouette to continue to improve productivity, reduce costs and improve their processes."
About Vision & Robotics
Vision & Robotics is a business unit of Invensys Systems Canada Inc. and has been developing automated vision inspection and robotic manufacturing solutions for 10 years. The business unit provides solutions for the lighting, continuous web, heavy metal fabrication, turbomachinery, automotive, electronics, aeronautics, food and beverage, pharmaceutical and consumer goods industries.
For additional information, visit www.solutions2accelerate.com or e-mail: [email protected] .
About Invensys
Invensys is a global leader in production technology and solutions. The group helps customers improve productivity, performance and profitability using innovative services and technologies and a deep understanding of their industries and applications. Invensys business units work closely with customers to increase performance of production assets, maximize return on investment in production and data management technologies and remove cost and cash from the supply chain. Leading Invensys brands focused on production management include APV, Avantis, Eurotherm, Foxboro, IMServ, SimSci-Esscor, Triconex and Wonderware.
These businesses address process and batch industries including oil and gas, chemicals, power and utilities, food and beverage, and personal health care and the discrete and hybrid manufacturing sectors. Invensys operates in more than 60 countries, with its headquarters in London. For more information, visit www.invensys.com .
