The surface quality of a product - particularly in the automotive industry - constitutes an important criterion for the customer and is generally seen in close relation to the quality of the overall vehicle. Even inevitable disturbances at the early production stages prior to applying the paint work (e.g. in the professional press shop or body shop) may cause defects such as dents, bumps, sink marks, etc. which might not be visible to the eye while the vehicle is still unpainted. On a high-gloss paint surface, however, even the slightest irregularities are clear to see with incident light from the proper angle, and constitute a reduction in quality. Particularly the intense competition among manufacturers demands an increase in the surface quality in conjunction with continuously decreasing production costs.
The target freedom from defects is time-consuming and labor-intensive to achieve for automobile manufacturers. It is not 100 % possible through conventional means so that defects that have gone unnoticed during the production process generate very high rework costs. Now, the early and complete detection of surface defects with the effective ABIS II high-precision surface inspection system opens up new perspectives in quality assurance.
