PFU wins NEDO award for automated visual inspection design solution

PFU has won first place in the NEDO Challenge Manufacturing DX competition for its development of an automated solution for visual inspection design. The project, titled ‘Determining quality before manufacturing,’ focuses on Theme 2 regarding the development of digital solutions for constructing new manufacturing know-how.

The solution is a digital platform that uses product design and processing information to support the definition of visual quality—such as identifying scratches or dents—and the selection of inspection equipment within a virtual space. By simulating how defects appear under various lighting and camera conditions, the system allows manufacturers to establish inspection standards and equipment configurations before mass production begins.

In technical verifications conducted in collaboration with the Ishikawa Prefectural Industrial Technology Institute, the solution significantly improved efficiency. The time required to search for optimal lighting and camera conditions was reduced from six hours of manual work to just 30 minutes. Additionally, the simulation helped identify high-performance configurations that improved defect detection rates from 71.5% to 85.1%.