Quality and efficiency along the entire line!
10 July 2026
Genuine high-speed empty can inspection with ever-increasing capabilities: the HEUFT canLine II is constantly being further developed. Our product manager explains where this is heading.
High product quality or high line throughput? For the beverage and food industry, both are equally important when it comes to filling cans and tins. The compact empty can inspector from HEUFT is therefore being continuously optimised, says Marc Hienert: “Recently, we have been working on further improvements to high-speed optical inspection and also to high-speed camera-based character verification.”
According to our product manager responsible for empty can inspection, the inspection of up to 144,000 empty cans per hour using intelligent HEUFT reflexx A.I. cameras now offers not only greater coverage and resolution both inside and out. Crystal-clear HDR images, free from shadows and reflections, further enhance the accuracy of detecting foreign objects, deformations, dents and other critical defects, even at such high line speeds. And thanks to deep-learning AI, the intelligent content verification of best-before dates and other alphanumeric markings on the can works reliably even when inkjet print quality deteriorates over time.
Greater flexibility, fewer line stoppages
“Our latest developments are aimed at increasing detection accuracy, minimising false rejects and enabling seamless integration into modern production environments,” explains Marc Hienert. “As bottlers invest in higher line speeds and more automated processes, the demand for appropriate inspection technology is naturally increasing.” Furthermore, “flexibility is currently a key issue, as many manufacturers require inspection systems that can be quickly adapted to different product variants.” The empty can inspector also handles this fully automatically. Brand and programme changes are completed in a very short time, ensuring that the efficiency of entire can production lines is not compromised and production can resume as quickly as possible.
“Furthermore, we are focusing on smarter system connectivity and data transparency, so that our customers can gain even deeper insights into their production processes and improve the overall performance of their production line.” The network-compatible HEUFT canLine II can be easily connected to the enhanced HEUFT CyBridge.profiler for production data acquisition and line analysis. And it can also be connected to HEUFT TeleService for online remote maintenance. “We are seeing growing demand for solutions of this kind, which can be easily integrated into existing production lines and digital infrastructures,” says the product manager. “Features such as data connectivity, remote diagnostics and predictive maintenance are becoming increasingly important, as manufacturers are becoming more and more keen to improve overall equipment effectiveness.”
Fewer false rejects, greater availabilty
The space-saving empty can inspector achieves this simply by not only identifying and removing containers contaminated with opaque foreign objects and contamination on the base and side walls, but also those with ovality defects or dents in the flange area, which can lead to defects and blockages during filling and sealing. With superior camera technology, HDR and AI-supported image processing, detection accuracy is further enhanced, whilst the false rejection rate is reduced. This also applies to avoidable rejections due to declining inkjet coding quality: thanks to Deep Learning OCV, their proportion is reduced to a new low.“Another important aspect,” adds the HEUFT product manager responsible for empty can inspection, “is our long-term support.” In addition to remote diagnosis, remote maintenance and a global network of service engineers based in various locations, “we also ensure extended spare parts availability, so that our customers can operate their inspection systems reliably over a very long service life.”