Inspection Standard Simulation for Intermediate Defect Screening

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Solution Overview

Problem

In product production lines, setting appropriate inspection standards for intermediate inspections is challenging, leading to issues like 'excessive-looking' and 'overlooking' defects, which affect efficiency and quality, and existing methods lack clarity and confidence for users in determining the appropriateness of these standards.

Innovation Solution

An inspection management system that acquires and simulates inspection content data, calculates a more appropriate inspection standard, and provides base information to users, allowing for easier determination of the standard's appropriateness and reducing both 'excessive-looking' and 'overlooking' by improving the first pass ratio and detecting actual defective products earlier.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If inspection standards are made stricter to reduce overlooking, then defect detection capability is improved, but excessive-looking increases leading to deterioration in inspection efficiency

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedefect detection capabilityVSAvoidinspection efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system automatically adjusts inspection standard parameters (thresholds, tolerances) based on statistical analysis of inspection data and process capability, replacing fixed manual settings with dynamically optimized values that balance defect detection with false rejection rates

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback loops where inspection results, false positives, and process data are continuously analyzed to refine and update inspection standards, allowing the system to learn from past performance and automatically optimize the balance between catching defects and avoiding excessive rejections

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Productivity

If inspection standards are made loose to decrease excessive-looking, then inspection efficiency is improved, but overlooking increases leading to deterioration in work efficiency in subsequent processes

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinspection efficiencyVSAvoiddefect detection capability
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically adjusts inspection parameter thresholds based on statistical process control data and historical defect patterns, automatically optimizing the balance between maintaining high inspection throughput and ensuring adequate defect detection without manual intervention

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary analysis of process capability, defect patterns, and inspection data before setting inspection standards, pre-optimizing parameters to prevent both excessive-looking and overlooking from the outset rather than adjusting reactively

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Ease of operation

If manual setting of inspection standards is performed according to user preference, then ease of operation is maintained, but appropriateness of standards cannot be determined leading to either excessive-looking or overlooking

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of setting standardsVSAvoidappropriateness of inspection standards
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs self-configuration of inspection standards by automatically analyzing process data, defect patterns, and capability metrics to generate optimized inspection parameters without requiring user expertise or manual adjustment, while still allowing optional user review and approval

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentEP3511793B1Inspection management system, inspection management apparatuses, and inspection management method
Publication Date: 2024.05.01 OMRON CORP
  • EP3511793B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3511793B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3511793B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

An inspection management system having a plurality of processes and managing final inspection performed to inspect a completed product and one or more intermediate inspections performed to inspect an intermediate product manufactured in the processes earlier than a final process includes: an inspection content data acquisition unit that acquires inspection content data including an inspection standard for each inspection item of the product; an inspection content setting unit that sets inspection content based on the inspection content data acquired by the inspection content data acquisition unit; a simulation unit that simulates inspection in accordance with assumed inspection content; an inspection standard calculation unit that calculates an inspection standard more appropriate than a current inspection standard based on the simulation; and an output unit that outputs base information indicating that at least the inspection standard calculated by the inspection standard calculation unit is more appropriate than the current inspection standard.