Cognex Expands Data Access Capabilities of SmartView Web Inspection Systems

Business Wire, Jan 21, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

NATICK, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 21, 2003

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ - CGNX), the world's leading supplier of machine vision systems, announced today that it has expanded the data access capabilities of the SmartView(R) system, the company's industry-leading web inspection system used for detecting and classifying defects in papers, metals, nonwovens, and other materials. The new enhancements include the following:

-- OPC data access - Ensures real-time inspection control and data access between the SmartView system and business, production, and quality systems in the mill. Real-time data access can be valuable, for example, in situations where a mill requires notification of defects as they occur in order to react to them immediately. The industry-standard OPC interface also enables easy integration of the SmartView system with other real-time systems.

-- ODBC data access - Provides flexible, remote access to inspection data from mill information systems and other third-party production data management applications. This would enable, for example, a user to easily query a database about the types of defects that occurred during a given shift or product run.

"In order to maximize production yield and reduce scrap, today's mills are more reliant than ever on having easy, open access to defect data - during production and even after product has been shipped to the customer," said Bob Chiricosta, Director of Marketing for Cognex's Surface Inspection Systems Division. "By leveraging widely-used, open standards such as OPC and ODBC, the SmartView system now gives users even greater control of their processes by providing increased access to the data they need, when and where they need it."

The SmartView system is a state-of-the-art, online surface inspection system that combines high-performance line-scan cameras, a separate camera support unit, specialized lighting, and a library of advanced image processing and analysis tools for detecting and classifying defects.

Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets machine vision systems, or computers that can "see." Cognex is the world's leader in the machine vision industry, having shipped more than 175,000 machine vision systems, representing over $1 billion in cumulative revenue, since the company's founding in 1981. Cognex's Surface Inspection Systems Division, headquartered in Alameda, California, specializes in machine vision systems that are used for inspecting the surfaces of products manufactured in a continuous fashion, such as metals, paper, and plastics. Cognex's Modular Vision Systems Division, headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, specializes in machine vision systems that are used for automating the manufacture of a wide range of discrete items and for assuring their quality. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts, Cognex also has regional offices located throughout North America, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Visit Cognex on-line at http://www.cognex.com.