Japanese IT company NEC has created a system that, with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, can detect defective products on assembly lines. The development will be useful for Japanese companies that seek to increase production efficiency and reduce staff in the face of growing labor shortages in the country, Nikkei notes..

The system removes the products moving along the conveyor and instantly analyzes its characteristics, revealing flaws that are difficult to detect when tested with conventional equipment, such as stains, various damages, deviations in color, and t. When using X-ray images, the system can detect foreign inclusions in food products.

The NEC system was tested in 30 companies, including leading manufacturers of auto parts. Tests have shown that the accuracy of the detection of marriage with its help is comparable to human control. Thus, additional verification by people will only require defective products, which will reduce the inspecting staff by two thirds.

It is also noted that the control equipment used on the assembly lines of the companies-test subjects allows to detect the marriage only with 80 percent accuracy of the person, because of what the products coming off the conveyor are rechecked by people.

According to the publication, quality control systems based on artificial intelligence in the world are used so far. The fee for using the system, not including initial investments, is about 300 thousand. Yen ($ 2,692) per month for each production line.