Domino has announced its acquisition of Lake Image Systems, a producer of automated, vision-based inspection systems for quality control and data verification.

The acquisition comes as part of Domino’s ongoing commitment to “Do more” to deliver “best-in-class customer experience through products, services, and expertise, that help customers improve production efficiency and cut manufacturing waste.” The company recognizes that with the growth of Industry 4.0, intelligent inspection and validation has become increasingly important to global customers within both digital printing, and coding and marking applications.

The acquisition will bring proven products into the Domino portfolio and provides customers with the opportunity to benefit from Lake Image Systems’ expertise and create production lines with greater intelligence and product accuracy.

Lake Image Systems’ product range includes the high-tech camera and lighting applications, and industry-leading image data management software, which combine to produce sophisticated, intelligent vision systems for quality control and data verification purposes. By integrating vision systems into existing production processes, customers can benefit from real-time monitoring of print throughput, allowing issues with print quality and data accuracy to be identified and rectified as they emerge.

Prior to the acquisition, Domino and Lake Image Systems worked together for more than 20 years, on projects to supply vision solutions for data verification to Domino’s commercial and digital printing customers.

Lake Image Systems’ strength in the inspection systems market and expertise in camera based print quality and variable data verification solutions will further expand our coding and marking hardware and software portfolio and enhance our ability to deliver high-performance, integrated coding solutions. Lake Image’s products will enable our customers to utilise integrated products and services, including vision systems, through innovative hardware and software that allows them to achieve increased production efficiency, reduced manufacturing waste, and grow smart, sustainable manufacturing operations. Lake Image has similar values to Domino, with a determination to service its customers to the highest possible standards. This ensures a seamless transition for its expert consultants and technologists.” said Robert Pulford, CEO at Domino.

Lake Image Systems has many years’ experience working on designing, developing, and manufacturing intelligent camera systems for the commercial printing, labeling, packaging, and mailing industries.

The company was founded in 1994, by Martin Keats, Paul Smith, and Paul Stinson, all of whom will remain within the business as a subsidiary of Domino. Over the last 26 years the company has expanded its international operations, and now employees 50 personnel, spread between four offices, including the company headquarters in Tring, UK, as well as the USA, France, and Singapore.

Products are available for a wide variety of applications, including: variable code verification, to ensure that the correct code is placed on the correct product; barcode grading and classification, to meet specific industry regulations; print integrity verification, to identify issues with code duplication or label misplacement; and overall print quality analysis, to identify no-reads, smudges, and colour deviation.

“Domino has enjoyed a successful relationship with Lake Image for over 20 years,” says Ben Rock, strategic business development director at Domino. “Going forward Lake Image Systems will be integrated into Domino’s Strategic Business Development unit, to create scalable, fully-integrated solutions for customers looking to explore vision control alongside coding and marking and digital printing solutions.”

Looking to the future of manufacturing, Domino recognizes the importance of integration and connectivity when implementing solutions for smart, sustainable production lines. Domino’s latest range of Industry 4.0-ready printers, equipped with Domino Cloud functionality, was launched to provide customers with options for remote monitoring as part of an advanced services suite. The introduction of intelligent vision solutions in Domino’s product range will further add to this offering, to provide customers with additional solutions to overcome productivity challenges and maximize production line efficiencies.

We have a long history working with Domino, and by joining forces we have an excellent platform to grow our business and deliver more value to our collective customers and partners,” says Martin Keats. “By combining our technologies and resources, we can accelerate the development of the next generation of integrated, intelligent vision solutions for the wider printing and packaging market.”