April 2016
I remember the start of 2006 well. Working on a business plan. Choosing office space. Getting a website up and business cards printed. The heavy lifting necessary to create something from nothing — the beginning of a new company.
Twenty years ago I had the opportunity to help develop a machine vision system. That was my first of many projects to come. It took a system the size of a phone booth (remember those?) just to determine the orientation of a stamped part. A high resolution analog camera had 0.3 megapixels. We used frame grabbers, xenon strobes, fiber bundles, and CCTV lenses.
Ten years ago I founded i4 Solutions with the belief that, to deliver the best machine vision solutions, a company must focus all its resources on this technology. Customers didn’t want a jack-of-all-trades trying to be all things to all people. Technology was changing fast. There is so much to know about lighting, optics, and software algorithms that it demands full attention.
In the ensuing years, we have gotten the technology right. Developing solutions that are simpler to install, configure, and maintain. Never force-fitting the wrong components. Always looking ahead to help our customers succeed.
We’re grateful for every customer that has selected i4 Solutions as their partner. Together we have tackled many exciting projects that have reduced manufacturing costs and assured product quality. Our machine vision solutions continue to get better and better, and I look forward to showing you next generation technology in the coming months.
I still believe machine vision is best implemented by a dedicated integrator. The AIA Certified System Integrator program identifies these superior solution providers. Can general automation companies and internal engineering resources succeed on vision projects? Yes, it happens every day. But the value of machine vision comes from how often the system’s results are correct. A specialist is far more likely to build a system that gets it right, and hence deliver a better return on your investment.
Brian Durand
President