Antares Vision, a provider of intelligent track & trace, inspection and smart data management systems for the life science, food & beverage, nutraceuticals and cosmetics sectors, has introduced a high-resolution vision system providing comprehensive inline layout inspection for webs and labels. Easily integrated into new or existing labeling, printing or packaging machines, the new AV Print Inspector offers 100% inspection for the increasingly sophisticated, often print-on-demand applications common in modern product marking operations.

AV Print Inspector offers whole-label inspection at speeds up to 80 meters/minute. The technology supports all major vision system tools for seamless quality control across a wide array of layout features, including 1D/2D barcodes; optical character recognition (OCR) and verification (OCV); pattern matching; color check; and pattern matching.

Robust and efficient, AV Print Inspector can define as many as 40 unique regions of interest, each with independent parameters and reportable defect statistics. The result is 100% inspection of all common defects, including dots, smudges, marks, missing or discolored lines, and missing or incorrect barcodes or human-readable data.

The system is as flexible as it is exacting: AV Print Inspector can either conduct quality control by referring to an imported image, such as a PDF, or via an algorithm that automatically calculates the inspection parameters, discriminating between fixed and variable data. Inspection formats can be created directly by operators using an intutive graphic user interface (GUI) that does not require significant coding or vision systems experience. AV Print Inspector’s recipe management module has virtually unlimited storage capacity, and the 21CFR/11 compliant system can automatically generate batch and audit trail reports.

AV Print Inspector’s standard head size handles labels and web applications up to 4 inches wide, with 6” and 12” options also available.

“With brand owners in various markets increasingly demanding completely defect-free labeling and print-on-demand operations, solutions like the AV Print Inspector that replace manual sampling with automatic, 100% quality control will become the new norm,” says Chris Collins, North American Sales Manager for Antares Vision. “Not only does the AV Print Inspector guarantee a virtually defect-free print application, its in-line inspection dramatically reduces materials waste for a lower-cost, more eco-friendly process.”