Inline Versus Offline Inspection

According to Jack Woolley, PC Industries, online press inspection typically provides a method to locate and mark defects without stopping the press. Press corrections are made on the fly to eliminate problems. When major or continuous defects occur, the press might be stopped to reduce material loss. Offline “rewind inspection” operations are performed on a horizontal, vertical, or tabletop machine. The system presents defects to the operator, and the machine is stopped with the defect placed for operator action. Material is spliced or the label is replaced.