A PAIR of entrepreneurial inventors in Ystrad Mynach believe they have created technology which will give Welsh manufacturing the competitive edge it needs to survive and thrive.
John O'Connell, 50, and Russell Grigg, 30, will next month launch an intelligent camera system they promise will cut production costs by eliminating human error, increasing speed and improving quality.
The system is capable of photographing 60,000 images a minute. Mr Grigg was a senior engineer at the Sony factory in Bridgend until it was closed down last year. |
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They have combined their expertise to design and build the Quality Examiner through their start-up company Insight. Mr Grigg, technical director, believes that the only way Welsh manufacturing can compete with low-cost economies is by having the highest quality standards in the world.
He said, "A lot of companies have been operating the same way for 30 years - Wales has fallen behind. If manufacturing is to survive in Wales we need to take advantage of the technology available, or we will lose it."
The QE stores images of every item throughout the manufacturing process. Each is assigned a batch code, providing operators with easily-traceable picture proofs of the product. These captured images can be networked so progress on the production line can be monitored across the world.
Mr Grigg said, "This is a way of getting the product perfect and speeding up the process. The company set up their specifications and we take care of their quality for them." QE has had a successful trial at RPC Llantrisant, examining products for pharmaceutical giant L'Or al.
Mr O'Connell said, "L'Or al are hard taskmasters. They demand 100% quality."
By spotting imperfections early on in the process, he said, the system will allow companies to recycle products rather than reject them at the final stages. It can also identify patterns of flaws.
Mr O'Connell said, "You don't want someone checking the product sitting there thinking it is just 'all right'. With our system it could be 'perfect' at 20 times the speed."
Within five years he hopes Insight will have a turnover of £3.5m. Final preparations are now being made for QE's commercial launch.
"We're ready to rock from the first of July," he said.
The pair have raised the bulk of the funding themselves. The software development costs of approximately £85,000 have been partially offset by an Assembly Government grant of £10,000 and a recently arranged Finance Wales loan of £20,000. The venture is a homecoming for Mr O'Connell, who lives in Cardiff.
He said, "I'm so delighted to come back and see the development in Wales."
Insight's team of five are based in the Objective One-funded Tredomen Gateway development. He said, "We're loving the excitement at the minute. We're in one of the most beautiful hi-tech buildings Caerphilly County Borough Council has ever built.
"It's all glass and it's in the shape of a rugby ball. We'll be bringing people from all over Britain and we'll be proud to show them this building." |
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