How Are Automated Inspection Systems Applied in Sauza?

In a previous article, I talked about automatic inspection systems. This time I want to share some examples of how we apply them in Sauza.

Sensors Inspection Systems

As an example, we have the inspection system that makes sure the bottle has a lid. It can be done using 2 optical sensors:

• One to detect the bottle
• One to detect the lid

They are both connected to a control system that makes sure that when a bottle is detected, a cap is also detected.

In our case, the sensor that detects the bottle is an optical u-shaped sensor. Since it has an emitter and receiver, it is less affected by the brightness and transparency of the glass.

The one that detects the lid is a convergent sensor. It has this type of sensor because we have lids of various heights and materials. It is oriented so that it sees the lid at the top and is calibrated in such a way that it detects the lid.

It doesn't detect a lid when:

• It's a "tall" lid (such as cork)
• It's a very "short" lid (as a metallic one)- it only detects the rim of the bottle

These sensors are connected to a control system and works like this: When the signal from the sensor that detects the bottle is on, the "lid presence sensor" must be on during a specific time as well (during time it takes for the lid to pass). If this time is not fulfilled (it sends a double pulse to detect the rim of the top of the container) or the signal does not appear, then it means that the bottle doesn't have a lid, and sends the "bottle without lid" alarm.

Another example in which we use sensors, is to make sure that the boxes carry all the full bottles. It can be measured by weight, loading cells, etc.

Artificial Vision System

For example, we have a system at Casa Sauza that inspects the orientation of the bottle before it's labeled. It has a direct lighting system. This inspection is done using a smart camera. This camera does not have filters or special lenses. The tool we use is the pixel count tool: The algorithm counts the dots found in the selected area (of a tone that is within the selected range) and sends a signal to rotate the bottle when it's mis-oriented.

Initially, the supplier had delivered the system with the pattern tool, which is when the algorithm performs a comparison between a recorded image and the passing bottles. However, because there is so much variation in glass, the margin of error was very high; In some presentations, the error was 10% and in others, 15%. So we changed to pixel count. Furthermore, the latter is a tool with a simpler algorithm and requires less processing time. This tool managed to give us an error of only 0.0083%, that is, an efficiency of 99.99167%

We also have another system that inspects that the bottles bear the corresponding labels. This system works with 2 cameras in order to inspect both sides of the bottle. These cameras are connected to an industrial computer, which is the one that has the software with the algorithms that discriminate between the bottles that are properly labeled, from the ones that aren't. The lighting system here is direct. When discriminating, the industrial computer communicates with an electronic card that is responsible for rejecting bottles that do not meet our quality standards, using a pneumatic cylinder

These are some examples of how Sauza works with automatic inspection systems. In my next blog, I will tell you about how these inspection systems have a positive impact on Sauza.

If you want to learn more about our production systems, come and take one of our guided tours so you learn how we make tequila at Sauza, from the plantation of the agaves, to the bottling of this emblematic Mexican drink, the tequila.