According to the FDA, 11% of packaging and labeling-related pharmaceutical recalls in 2014 were caused by labeling mix-ups. Many of these problems can be traced to the traditional manual approach of inspecting labels, which relies upon operators to detect errors in labels as dozens of them flash by every second.
Developers of rewind systems used to count and prepare labels for application to drug packages are moving to address this challenge by upgrading their products with machine vision so that they can automatically inspect every label to make sure it has a readable and correct bar code. Often, these machine vision systems check the label artwork, text, and other factors. The cost of machine vision equipment has fallen to the point that this type of inspection equipment can quickly pay for itself in avoided recalls and reduced labor expenses. One example of this new approach is provided by the Web Techniques WT-35 series rewind system offered with the Cognex DataMan 262X ID reader for verifying bar codes or the Cognex In-Sight 2000 machine vision sensor for complete label inspection.