More than 14,000 brewery professionals are expected to attend the 34^th edition of Craft Brewers Conference & Brewexpo America, which takes place April 10-13 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. At the event, Imola, Italy-based Sacmi will focus on new solutions for the total quality control of labelled bottles at booth No. 2155.

For example, the LVS 360 is the latest evolution of the advanced vision systems developed and perfected by Sacmi's Automation & Inspection Systems Division. Designed to operate in-line and at ultra-high speeds, this system  effectively identifies all types of defects, from “macro” label characteristics (e.g., application presence-absence, incorrect or mixed-up applications) to detailed elements that range from the presence of creases or small bubbles to slight defects or deviations in colour tone or print quality, the company says.

Since Sacmi-developed the LVS 360 vision system, the product maintains its quality for producer and customer alike, it adds. The solution not only lets producers affect 100 percent label quality control, it also effects real-time matching between the applied labels and the specific production lot, which eliminates errors even when making frequent product and/or size changeovers.

The result of years of experience and know-how in developing high-performance quality control systems that check every aspect of the beverage line (cap, bottle, label), the LVS 360 features 4-color video cameras with a resolution of as many as 5 MP (i.e. a total of 20 MP). The CVS 3000 software on the machine — the same installed on all group vision systems — allows 2-D reconstruction of captured 3-D images, thus eliminating any distortion and minimising false rejects.

For the brewing world, Sacmi also has developed high-performance filling lines specifically designed for the industry (especially in regards to the minimisation of in-bottle oxygen residue) to high-productivity, flexible labelling lines, such as the KUBE modular labeller range, the company says. Designed to operate in line with Sacmi labellers, the same LVS 360 system also can be integrated downstream from existing lines to provide customers with maximum flexibility when it comes to upgrading their plants.

For the U.S. market, Sacmi combines technological excellence with fast, far-reaching after-sales assistance, it adds. Sacmi USA provides support to all group businesses, and effective teamwork through its beverage research and development (R&D) facility, which  provides advanced services at both the design stage — by first testing and then industrialising solutions together with the customer — and after the sale, supplying valuable support throughout the working life of the machine or plant, the company explains.