AMCOR – HIGH-SPEED AI BOTTLE INSPECTION

The Client

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Amcor is a global packaging manufacturer producing a wide range of rigid and flexible packaging solutions for the food, beverage and consumer goods sectors.

Their customers operate high-speed filling and lidding lines, so consistent, defect-free bottles are critical to maintaining uptime and product quality.

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The Challenge

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Amcor needed to ensure that any imperfections in their bottles were identified and removed before deliveries reached the customer’s site.

Previously, inspection relied on batch sampling, which meant only a portion of each run was checked and occasional defects could still slip through to the filling and lidding process.

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As volumes increased, Amcor required:

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• 100% inspection of bottles rather than spot checks

• High-speed operation at around 80 bottles per minute

• Reliable identification and removal of defective bottles before packing

• A system that could be tuned and improved over time, reducing false rejects without compromising quality

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The Solution

 

Central Conveyors worked in partnership with Fisher Smith Ltd, specialists in machine vision systems, to deliver a fully automated bottle inspection and handling system.

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Central Conveyors designed and supplied the mechanical handling solution, including:

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• A conveyor system that presents bottles on forks through a dedicated inspection zone

• An air-jet rejection station to remove defective bottles from the line

• An inclined conveyor that transfers accepted bottles into collation bins for delivery

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Fisher Smith provided and configured two AI-powered smart cameras:

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• One camera views the bottle from below as it passes on the forks

• The second camera looks down from above, giving a comprehensive view of the bottle surfaces

• These smart cameras are trained using images of defect-free bottles.

Each live image is compared against the learned “good” references, and if a deviation beyond the allowed tolerance is detected, the system triggers an output to fire the air jet and divert the suspect bottle into a reject bin.

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Accepted bottles continue along the conveyor and are pushed onto the inclined conveyor, which feeds them into collation bins ready for dispatch.

Because the cameras use self-learning techniques, operators can refine performance over time.

If an acceptable bottle is incorrectly rejected, its image can be reviewed, confirmed as good and added back into the training set so future bottles of that type are accepted.

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The Results

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The new system has significantly improved Amcor’s quality control process:

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• Every bottle is now inspected, eliminating reliance on batch sampling and greatly reducing the risk of defects reaching the customer

• Inspection keeps pace with production at around 80 bottles per minute, without additional manual labour

• Defective bottles are automatically removed before packing, supporting smoother, more reliable filling and lidding operations at the customer’s site

• The self-learning camera setup continues to improve over time, offering a robust, future-proof solution for high-speed bottle inspection

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This integrated solution from Central Conveyors and Fisher Smith helps protect Amcor’s reputation for quality while giving its customers confidence that only good bottles enter its downstream processes.