Plastic film extruder required multiple systems to inspect and track defects

A US plastic film client with 19 US locations approached OneBoxVision with a challenge. The company was producing bags for powered milk. The goal was to inspect the film while being extruded on a blown film line and alert the operators in real time to carbon specks so that it can be corrected at source. The extruded plastic would then be shipped to a second site where the film would be used on an automated line producing bags. The client wanted us to check again and also allow the second plant to access the inspection data for the first process.
The team at OneBoxVision built two systems, using commercial off the shelf components , the first inspecting the blown film for carbon specks , the second inspecting on the bag line while verifying the quality of the seams welded during that process. The first system is shown on the right hand side. OneBoxVision added it’s vision cloud to enable both systems communicate the results to each other. This also gave process engineers access to real time analytical data that could be used to optimize each process. The client was automatically emailed key process information at the end of each shift.
OneBoxVision used SurfaceFlow as the key technology enabler. It’s a complete quality package that can be deployed on plastic film lines to automatically detect:
- Gels
- Holes
- Carbon
- Contamination
- Wrinkles
- etc.
One of the challenges for this application is that the inspection system is placed after a rotary punch. The system must not only inspect for defects, but check that the perforations are made and in place, while still looking for holes that should not be there. OneBoxVision’s perforation analysis is a key add on for this requirement.

he second system on the right is a single camera system installed on the bag line. The challenge for this application is that the inspection system must automatically detect seams and tears but also do automated machine vision inspection on the rest of the bag . OneBoxVision has developed a suite of tools that enable this, perforation analysis and seam analysis are key for this requirement. the presence and quality of the tears and seams. The application has to support the fact that there may be perforations in the film but random holes are not permitted.
To learn more access our white papers or for a free consultation, contact us now. OneBoxVision operates globally with solution partners in North America, Europe and Asia.