SURFACE inspection systems (SIS) hold out the promise of increased product quality, customer satisfaction, and market share. They should be able to help boost product yield, increase speed of throughput, and cut down on labor costs. With such promises, the technology would seem a sure sell with metalproducers. Not necessarily. Until recently, the reaction had been generally lukewarm. One reason is that metal-especially bare metal that hasn't been coated-is difficult to inspect reliably. An SIS has been known to "see" more than it should-and score false "hits" as a result. For example, light that reflects off a random surface can result in a false detection of a defect. If oil or water droplets stay behind on an improperly dried surface, the system will see the droplets as defects. Gaining wider acceptance means being able to classify defects from non-defects.
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