High-Capacity Material Handling Machine for Product Quality Inspection

Integrating New Automated Production Equipment

An industrial manufacturer required a complete material handling and machine automation system to seamlessly interface with their product quality inspection test machine. The company hired ACS, an automation integration supplier, to design, engineer, and build this integrated system to handle high-volume product scanning, calibration, and sorting. The outcome successfully allowed the client to provide a complete, automated product quality inspection system to their end-use customer.

The Challenge

A manufacturing supplier developing an advanced quality control solution needed a robust automated material handling setup to pair with their proprietary scanning equipment. Their client’s end-use customer required a seamless process to manage high product throughput, including specific routing for rescans, calibrations, and failed items. This necessitated building a highly coordinated support structure, as manual product sorting was insufficient for modern, high-speed production quality inspection requirements.

The new setup wasn’t just tasked with moving items along a line; it had to function flawlessly as a high-capacity material handling machine. The client specified complex sorting rules for the infeed, outfeed, and transition zones, meaning the new automated production equipment would need to communicate perfectly with the central scanning machine. The manufacturer needed a distributed control setup that respected these precise logical routing limitations while boosting overall inspection efficiency.

While the company had strong internal scanning technology, it opted to engage a specialized material handling systems integrator. ACS had extensive experience in custom machinery, giving the manufacturer confidence that the cross-functional teams at ACS could design, engineer, and manufacture the system faster and more reliably than the manufacturer could using internal resources alone.

The Solution

ACS automation and mechanical engineers worked collaboratively with the client to design the comprehensive automation system. The structure needed to house twelve identical frame assemblies across the infeed and outfeed zones without bottlenecking the factory floor, align perfectly with the scanning channels, and comply with the client’s strict communication protocols, a vital requirement for any new automated production equipment. After minor refinements to the initial control logic, the engineering teams finalized the layout for the integrated material handling system.

During the engineering phase, ACS focused on creating a PLC-based controls system that could act as an embedded part of the client’s own machine. Using an Ethernet-based communication protocol, the procurement and engineering teams ensured seamless feedback for all devices within the customer’s highly distributed network. Acting as an experienced material handling systems integrator, the ACS team ensured the machinery would seamlessly automate the storage and retrieval of calibration products. The entire system was rigorously engineered to act as a synchronized material handling machine capable of automatically running calibration cycles on both the A and B sides of the tester.

The Outcome

The completed system features six identical frame assemblies on the infeed section and six identical frame assemblies on the outfeed section. The ACS team had the system fully assembled and subjected to rigorous Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) before delivery. This new equipment is now fully operational and ready to support the rapid pace of product quality inspection and automatic failure sorting.

With the new system, the client has successfully upgraded their market offering, meeting all the automated handling, scanning, and routing requirements to deliver a turnkey inspection solution to their end-use customer. By precisely distributing loads across the conveyor zones and acting as a specialized material handling machine, the ACS system supports the client’s ongoing product validation and innovation. The success of the project highlights the value of partnering with an automation integration supplier acting as a dedicated material handling systems integrator capable of managing complex mechanical challenges.

Key Features

• Complete material handling system with dedicated infeed, outfeed, and transition areas on either side of the test machine
• Infeed automation featuring automated storage and dual-sided running for all calibration products
• Outfeed sorting that automatically queues good product for manual offloading while isolating failed items
• PLC-based controls utilizing an Ethernet-based communication protocol to integrate seamlessly as an embedded part of the client’s system

ACS Services

• Design, engineering, manufacturing, and assembly of complete material handling machine automation systems
• Factory acceptance testing
• Controls engineering and distributed network integration for complex test equipment