IRIS: creating the next era for smart inspection

In response to the international glass container industry’s growing acceptance and adoption of ‘smart’ manufacturing practises, IRIS Inspection machines has expanded its NEO range of smart inspection solutions.

Created in close consultation with key customers, the latest NEO technology goes beyond the conventional boundaries associated with specialist inspection machines, delivering a more comprehensive offering to face the challenges presented by the smart factory. The NEO Series heralds the arrival of a new era, where glass inspection is not only sustained by machines but also by accurate data and the ability to comprehend, compute and connect it.

NEO Intelligence is an innovative approach that relates to intelligent defect recognition and sits at the core of Evolution non-contact glass container inspection equipment.

The latest generation Evolution NEO series marks an important break with other glass inspection machines, bringing the concept of the smart factory even closer. NEO eXperience is the NEO dashboard, designed to assist glassmakers to understand the causes of defects, to simplify the adjustment of settings and to reduce false rejection rates.

The inspection data created is available not only on the machine itself but remotely as well, for plant managers to monitor performance and initiate changes where necessary. In addition, defect images are available to hot end personnel, providing the ability to share critical defect characteristics and defect images in real-time, alerting IS machine operators to instances of critical defect detection.

The NEO series is the result of many years of dedicated research and development. This equipment has received widespread glass industry acceptance, generating multiple orders, in particular from European and Latin American glass packaging producers. Already, 510 machines are running NEO software throughout the world, with excellent customer feedback generated for the innovative defect approach adopted.