Gerhard Schubert GmbH looks back on four decades of technological innovations in the field of image processing. The trailblazing work, which has had a significant impact on the packaging industry, began in the mid-1980s with a visionary collaboration with the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Centre. Four decades after developing its first system, the company now has a wide-ranging portfolio that Schubert continues to expand. In the future, 2D and 3D scanners will be joined by an even more compact solution that combines both technologies. Schubert’s image processing technology is an integral part of its efficient quality assurance system. It is based on versatile scanners which Schubert has continuously optimised over the past 40 years and integrated into some 1,000 packaging machines worldwide. “Schubert scanners are now standard equipment on pick & place packaging lines,” explains Daniel Greb, Head of Image Processing at Schubert. “Our solutions make a decisive contribution to product quality and safety in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and animal feed industries.” Breaking new ground While 2D incident light scanners enable efficient colour and surface inspection, 3D scanners also check height, for example in the case of stacked products. The camera-based inspection aids detect the shape, dimensions and other parameters of different products in the packaging line. The company has now added a more compact solution to the two established variants. The new tracking scanner integrates the functions of 2D and 3D scanners – acting as a multifunctional tool for product recognition. The main focus is still on detecting the product position and quality – with one significant difference. “Instead of manufacturing scanners of different sizes as we have done in the past, we are working on a 600-millimetre-wide standard module,” explains Greb. Maintenance and cleaning are also much easier. “As a result, we are on track to significantly expand our lead in the field of image processing.”