Manufacturing lines: How it can be done

In a production plant, all items that pass through the various stages of production are assigned unique barcode identifiers. Each assembled object is then given a thorough examination within the quality inspection area where any noticeable fault is recorded on an electronic form against the appropriate barcode.

Using an enhanced monitoring system, the video signal from each analog camera on the assembly line can be connected in parallel and fed to an AXIS 2400 Video Server. This allows staff to view the images from each camera from any workstation within the plant, not only from a dedicated monitor within the control room.

By complementing the quality inspection area with an AXIS 2420 Network Camera, the system can be modified to append a digital image of each inspected object, stamped with the time and serial number of each passing object. This information can be included in an electronic form within the database. The digital images can then be stored on the same hard drive within the control room, or optionally, downloaded to any other server over the network.

Digital images from the network cameras and video servers can be made accessible to the headquarters via the Internet. This allows the supervisor to inspect and study any serious faults at the plant.