Magna International's Canadian chassis plant in Milton, Ontario, uses advanced hydroforming presses, tube bending machines and robotic welding cells to manufacture truck frames and chassis for DaimlerChrysler and other customers. The frames have dozens of studs and holes-often more than 100-that are critical to their function in the completed vehicle. When holes or studs are missing or located in the wrong position on the frame, final assembly line productivity decreases and line cycle time increases-costing thousands of dollars in downtime and repairs.
To ensure that it ships only defect-free components, Magna International uses an Inspection.IQ machine vision system installed by Siempelkamp Canada Inc. (Cambridge, Ontario). The system is located at its own station at the end of the highly automated robotic welding line. It employs more than 50 machine vision cameras and 80 light sources for quick, noncontact frame inspection.