Maruchan, Inc. in Irvine, California manufactures the popular Instant Lunch cup of dried noodles and they needed to detect when the correct lid was in place before sealing as well as detect when a lid was missing or out of proper position. After the lids are sealed onto the top of the cups, the products are immediately put inside sleeve packages and then into cartons. Products with wrong lids were not detected and sometimes reached the retail store where the brand image and perception of quality were affected. Any improvement had to avoid causing production delays and jamming of packaging equipment downstream. Omron proposed and installed a machine vision solution that delivers 100% inspection of cup lid placements to eliminate product with mismatched to content from reaching the customer.

Maruchan Ramen Story

In 1972, the Japanese processed foods conglomerate Toyo Suisan opened its first United States plant, Maruchan, Inc. It’s third plant in Irvine, California opened in 1994 to meet the demand for the popular “Ramen” dried noodle products in the U.S. and Mexico. Maruchan’s line of mostly meat-flavored cups of noodles was first introduced in Japan in 1962. The 2.25-ounce portion of dried noodles and flavorings are packed in a cup in the American and Mexican market. The simple preparation only requires the addition of hot water, and low prices make Instant Lunch noodles a popular snack or quick meal for all age groups.

In June 2008, Tadasu Tsutsumi, President of Toyo Suisan Kaisha, Ltd. commented in the annual report on the challenges of 2007. “Companies in the [food] industry face increased requirements to enhance quality control and fulfill their corporate social responsibility, including the handling of environmental issues in view of increased consumer awareness of food product safety.” To improve the quality of product reaching customers and eliminate production problems, Maruchan, Inc. contacted Omron to solve problems applying lids to the cups of noodles.

Lid Inspection Problem

Each cup of noodles is sealed with a lid marked with one or two icons identifying the flavor and a bar code that confirms an exact match of contents to lid version. Maruchan wanted to insure that the correct lids are placed on the cup of noodles, and that placement is correct. After the lids are sealed onto the top of the cups, the products are immediately put inside sleeve packages and then into to cartons. Products with wrong lids are not detected and usually make it out to the retail store where the brand image is affected

Solution

Omron designed and implemented a Vision Inspection System based on the F160 vision sensor that inspects the lid on each cup right after it is sealed on the cup but before it enters the sleeve packaging machine.

The inspection system uses 360-degree rotational compensation to align the camera image for proper inspection. After compensating for rotational alignment, the vision system inspects one or two identifying features on the artwork to verify that the lid matches the product being produced.

Product selection, inspection results, and system setup are performed on an NS-series HMI connected to a CP1H PLC.

Omron provided a complete solution package that included the Vision System, PLC, and HMI inside a completely terminated control panel as well as engineering, programming, and startup services. Four systems were installed to support inspection after the line splits into four lanes.

Results

Maruchan, Inc. benefited from two significant improvements:

The inspection system inspects every product (100%) and insures that the lid on every product is correct. Products with wrong lids are blown off the conveyor.

The second benefit is that the inspection system also captures products with no lids and lids that are grossly misaligned. Identifying these defects and removing these products from the conveyor eliminated machine jamming and downtime at the sleeve packaging machine. After installing this system, the customer has realized significant reduction in sleeve packaging machine downtime and increase in machine utilization.

“The inspection system works much better than expected,” says Yoshiaki Yamamoto, Maruchan’s Deputy Plant Manager. “The biggest surprise is the unexpected benefit of reducing sleeve packaging machine downtime by eliminating jam-up as a result of removing products with no lids and misaligned lids.”

The system eliminated wasted time and manpower required to find and remove bad products and helped reduce potential risks and liabilities associated with incorrectly labeled products. Based on these results, Machuran, Inc. has asked to duplicate the inspection system at their Virginia plant.