Define the defect, detection point, product identity, reject action and evidence before choosing a sensor or inspection machine.
Inspection and reject planning starts with a clear quality decision: what condition is checked, when it can be detected and what happens to a suspect pack. The line must maintain product identity from detection to rejection, confirm that the reject action occurred where required, contain rejected product and respond safely if the reject path is full or unavailable. The method should be validated with representative good and bad samples.
These factors help suppliers compare the same application and make assumptions visible before equipment is selected.
| Element | What to define | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Quality characteristic | Presence, position, code, weight, seal, closure or other defined condition. | Determines the suitable sensing or inspection method. |
| Detection point | Where the condition is visible and stable. | Determines installation and product tracking distance. |
| Reject action | Air, pusher, diverter, stop or manual segregation. | Must suit pack mass, speed and stability. |
| Confirmation | Evidence the suspect pack reached the reject destination. | Supports fault response and containment. |
| Failure state | Full bin, failed actuator, lost tracking or unavailable inspection. | Determines whether the line stops or product is held. |
Inspection should be tested with known acceptable and unacceptable conditions, including realistic variation near the agreed limit. Artificial samples may be useful for setup but should not replace production-intent challenge samples where the defect depends on material, print, product or pack geometry.
If several packs can occupy the distance between inspection and rejection, the control system must track the correct item through changes in spacing and stops. Any manual removal, recirculation or accumulation within that zone should be addressed in the design.
Reject devices and bins must be accessible without creating unsafe intervention or uncontrolled product. HSE guidance on PUWER and work equipment is relevant to the general duties; final guarding and risk controls need a competent, installation-specific assessment.
Each answer states the practical variables that should be confirmed for the actual product, pack and production environment.
Install inspection where the quality characteristic has been created and is stable enough to evaluate, with enough downstream distance to track and reject the pack. Also consider access for challenge tests, cleaning and maintenance, and whether later processes could create a new defect.
Use representative good samples across normal variation, stable product presentation and an agreed decision threshold. Record false rejects and false accepts separately during validation. Repeatedly widening the threshold without understanding the cause can remove the protection the inspection was intended to provide.
Frequency depends on the product, process, quality system and risk. The machinery specification should support the chosen procedure, but the production organisation must define and maintain the actual test plan. Record the sample, result, time and action when a challenge fails.
Not necessarily. The appropriate response depends on line speed, product risk, process control and the ability to stop and segregate safely. Where automatic rejection is used, the specification should define tracking, reject confirmation and the response to a failed or full reject path.
The agreed fail state may stop the line, hold product for separate verification or use another controlled procedure. It should not be left to an unrecorded operator decision. Define the response, authority to restart and treatment of product made during the unavailable period.
Use these pages to connect the technical question to the machinery, trial or project scope.
Send the product, packaging components, target output, current process and any layout or interface information. Lancing can use the details to identify the next trial, machine category or integration review.
An inspection decision is only useful when it remains attached to the correct physical pack and produces the agreed response. Define the job-data source, code or label check, tracking method, reject confirmation, count reconciliation and failure behaviour as one controlled sequence.