At Automate-X, we love tackling projects that blend innovation with everyday products—and what’s more iconic than Tip Top Ice Cream? We recently partnered with the team at Tip Top to enhance their production process by integrating automation into their quality assurance. This not only helps maintain product consistency but ensures every tub of ice cream that hits the shelves is exactly what it says it is
We had the great opportunity to be a part of a project for Tip Top Ice Cream.
This involved incorporating a Quality Assurance Inspection System into place for the label detecting of ice cream tubs.
We can divide this project into three parts, one for each production line which we can call A, B and C.
Two of the production lines (B and C) uses one barcode scanner each. Each barcode scanner has to cater to multiple orientation of the tub so that it can read the barcode successfully.
The scanned barcode will be checked against a pre-selected recipe. If there’s a mismatch, it means the tub doesn’t match its contents. If this system is not in place, you may end up with vanilla ice cream when you really wanted a chocolate ice cream.
The artwork on the ice cream lid and the barcode on its tub must match the one in the selected recipe.
To achieve this, an array of 6 barcode scanners are installed on the conveyor and hanging from the top is a smart camera that will detect the artwork on the ice cream lid. These are assembled in a compartment to prevent ambient light from showing light on the tub.
