BIC New Zealand Ltd. (Auckland, New Zealand), one of a number of BIC Corp. (Milford, CT) subsidiaries around the globe, manufactures about 15 million felt-tip pens each year using a customized automated assembly machine. These pens are then sold throughout New Zealand, Mexico, Chile, Canada and the United States.
Although reliable, the machine occasionally creates defective pens as a result of improperly fed parts or tips that split during insertion. In the past, the company relied on operators to spot defects. But, because of high production speeds, guaranteeing consistent product quality was difficult, if not impossible.