ON THE packing line for Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) prestige skincare products in Japan, trained staff examine empty bottles for defects, getting through 30 to 50 bottles per minute.

A new automated “machine vision” system will raise this rate to 150 bottles per minute – and also raise the bar for quality, by providing more consistent and efficient inspection.

Powered by artificial intelligence, this high-speed bottle inspection technology was developed by Singapore SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) JM VisTec, which has itself gone through changes that are not merely cosmetic.