Konduran Presented Viquins Quality Control Systems Developed for the Knitting and Nonwovens Industry at ITM 2024
Interview: Dilek Hayırlı
Konduran Inc. produces industrial solutions and quality control systems based on image processing and artificial intelligence for the textile industry. The company exhibited its own brand Viquins MEGA and VEGA quality control systems developed for the knitting, weaving and nonwoven industry at ITM 2024.
In 1999, Konduran Inc. started its software adventure, and in 2008, it developed image processing and artificial intelligence solutions for License Plate Recognition Systems and MOBESEs. The company, which develops software and hardware for military and civilian use, continues to produce industrial solutions and quality control systems based on image processing and artificial intelligence, especially in textiles. Among the products developed by Konduran A.Ş. for the textile industry are the following:
MEGA – Camera-supported smart quality control systems, end-of-line woven fabric quality control system, ERA – Smart defect detection systems for circular knitting machines, basic defect detection system during weaving, TERA – Smart defect detection systems for circular knitting machines, detailed defect detection system during weaving, VEGA – High-speed smart quality control systems, nonwoven end-of-line fabric quality and density control system, LUNA – Lighting solutions for special needs, qualified lighting system for visual analysis and artificial intelligence-based quality control. The company also offers Gritron license plate recognition system software core for product developers.
Konduran, which carries out its activities based in Istanbul, has two offices in Çanakkale Teknopark for R&D activities, and management, logistics and marketing offices on the European and Anatolian sides of Istanbul. Konduran, which has a developer identity, has a monthly production capacity of 1000 units, open to development in order to rapidly meet sectoral needs.
We interviewed with Oktay Kabaktaş, Co-Founder of Konduran Inc., for Tekstil Teknoloji magazine. Kabaktaş gave information about their products, export targets, 2024 targets and the products they will exhibit at ITM 2024.
“Products Attract Interest in Asia and the Middle East Market”
How was the first quarter of 2024 for your company? Could you evaluate it in terms of your production volume and export figures?
Konduran Inc. completed the development and testing processes of its textile-centered products by 2023 and introduced them to the market in the first quarter of 2024. In this context, the sectoral interest and demand shown within the country also resonated with international manufacturers. Our various systems, which are currently active in production, dyeing end and purchasing processes in four different integrated facilities, attract attention especially in the Asian and Middle Eastern markets where the textile industry is developing and targeting quality production.
In machines produced with traditional methods, fabric control is done with the human eye. What are the handicaps of this?
The human-based quality control sector has trained experts for many years and these experts have been very successful. Like any solution that depends on human resources, this solution has its advantages and handicaps. The main handicap is to ensure that there are always qualified, well-trained, and uniform personnel in the production process.
For example, in a three-shift production, there is the risk of three different quality control officers, and therefore three different standards and quality levels. Even a skilled, trained, and successful employee cannot be expected to give the same performance for long periods of time without error. Physical, emotional, and environmental factors certainly affect human performance. Therefore, in this structure, the quality level is determined not by the best trained and most successful operator, but by the most unsuccessful one. In addition, the fact that qualified employees change jobs too often despite the high costs is another risk factor.
“Viquins Systems Can Analyze 24/7 with the Same Performance and Meticulousness”
The Viquins brand developed by your company is an automated visual quality control system that focuses specifically on image processing operations and does not require personnel. What are the features of this system that distinguish it from its competitors?
The biggest benefit of the system is undoubtedly its ability to analyze twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week with the same performance and meticulousness, to detect 12 defined problems from the biggest to the smallest, to mark them with photographs and quantity information, to report them in detail and to archive them for years.
It provides a more successful and measurable quality system using fewer employees, independent of the intensity, time and quantity of production. As in every sector there are different product types in various scales, there are many products in textile quality control systems.
In this context, Viquins products are a refined compact solution that has been prepared after analyzing all sectoral products and developing the weaknesses of all of them and strengthening the features that were not offered before with the support of consultants from within the sector.
What are the advantages Viquins Mega offers to customers? Could you evaluate them in terms of time, energy, cost, and efficiency?
The Viquins product range is industrially designed and manufactured with the aim of continuous and stable operation with low investment cost, low energy consumption, low service and operator requirements. Due to the nature of artificial intelligence, it is a platform that learns and trains itself as it works, thus becoming more successful and qualified. A product that measures the quality of production with detailed analyzes, identifies problems and allows them to be solved before they occur, thus generating income and preventing losses.
To summarize, it is a domestic solution that protects the producer from personnel costs, energy, losses caused by low quality products, and provides measurable, predictable, qualified, and quality production.
Could you give information about the areas of use of Viquins?
Viquins artificial intelligence-supported quality control systems in textile can be used in knitting and nonwoven production, dye houses, circular knitting machines during production, quality control systems at the beginning or end of production, as well as in the classification and control of manufactured products before sales.
It can also be used for textile buyers to measure and inspect whether the products received are produced at the promised standards.
What are the main differences between Viquins products?
We can basically categorize our products in two main categories: Knitting and Nonwoven quality control systems. ERA, TERA and MEGA are customized for knitting production, while VEGA is specially designed for nonwoven products.
ERA is an active quality control system that has benefits such as detecting errors that occur during production in circular knitting machines, stopping production if necessary and producing with zero error: detecting the source of basic errors (needle breakage, oil leakage, fly, etc.), performing machine-based performance and quality analysis.
TERA is an improved and extended upper level of ERA. It covers all the features of ERA but can detect 15 different defects and provides the closest product production to perfection with product and system-specific definitions.
MEGA and VEGA are integrated systems on the quality control desk that control and report finished products before they are received or shipped to the customer.
MEGA analyzes all knitted products, dyed or undyed, catches and classifies 15 different defects and classifies them according to tolerance rates.
VEGA basically performs the same task as MEGA on nonwoven products, which is a more challenging structure. While detecting at speeds of up to 100 meters per minute, it catches defects with a diameter of 0.1 mm, and more importantly, it can also detect critical errors caused by production by measuring product density. Especially in nonwoven products that require precision for medical use, it provides a significant advantage.
What are your new plans for 2024 and any new product projects?
Our plan for 2024 is to make Viquins systems the established standard for quality control in textiles in the national market. In addition, we want to serve emerging textile countries. We are also working on new products in textile and other sectors in the artificial intelligence-supported visual analysis center. We are working on applications that provide added value to the sector with quality control and increase brand value and product quality. Our main goal is for our products to add high standards and value to both our partners and the national textile industry.
