QBar. AI and ShadeBar Technology Received Full Marks from Users

News: Dilek Hayırlı

QBar.AI and ShadeBar, the fabric and colour control technologies launched by Serkon Teknoloji A.Ş., have gained great appreciation in the sector in a short time. Representatives of Ekoten Tekstil, Sage Diniz and Küçükçalık companies explained why they prefer these two products and their advantages.

Serkon Teknoloji Inc., in partnership with Ağteks, launched two revolutionary products QBar.AI and ShadeBar in fabric control in 2023. These two products can control the surface and color of fabrics at the same time with a success rate of 95% and above, regardless of knitted, woven denim.

QBar.AI is an artificial intelligence fabric scanning technology that enables the detection of defects on the fabric surface at flow rate. Using computerised image models, QBar.AI takes an image on the surface, transfers this image to the artificial intelligence unit, the decision-making centre applies the deep learning model, then notifies the operation department of the detection, automatically stops the machine if necessary, and labelling the faulty part is done by the automated system. Therefore, the quality control process, which is 100% human-oriented, is no longer monopolised by artificial intelligence. ShadeBar technology, on the other hand, allows the surface to be monitored at every cm without taking parts for color control, color transition or edge difference in the flow, without using a light booth.

QBar.Al and ShadeBar, which perform fabric surface and colour controls with 95% success rate, attracted great interest in the sector in a short time. Turkey’s largest knitted and woven fabric, home textile, automotive textile and upholstery fabric manufacturing companies started to use these two products. Officials of Ekoten Tekstil, Sage Diniz and Küçükçalık companies using QBar.AI and ShadeBar technology explained why they prefer these two products and their advantages.

 

Serdin Çelik / Ekoten Tekstil Production Execution Systems Manager

“QBar.Al and ShadeBar gave us many advantages in terms of operational and quality”

For 14 years, I have been working at Ekoten Tekstil, one of the leading knitting companies in Turkey. Ekoten Tekstil is one of the integrated production facilities where the yarn enters and comes out as final fabric.

The story of our process of choosing QBar.AI is briefly as follows: As a company, we were researching to adapt monitoring processing to quality control processes. We met the Serkon team at the ITMA Milano Exhibition. We saw their sample machines which they actively integrated QBar.AI on quality control at the fair and tested them on site. We even made inspections while passing fabric.

We actually had a certain experience in monitoring processing. So we knew how these systems worked, and we realised that some of the product’s capabilities suited us and met our requirements. We had some extra requirements in mind and when we conveyed them to the Serkon team, they told us that they could fulfil our demands. We immediately decided to start a pilot study. The key point of QBar.AI is efficiency and speed. We have observed that QBar.AI controls a fabric that is checked at 14m/min in a normal quality control process at an average speed of 35m/min. This situation varies according to the fabric quality. Sometimes it can reach up to 45m/min, and there are also lower limits for more critical fabrics.

We also use the ShadeBar product of Serkon Teknoloji. I can explain why we prefer this product as follows. “The fabric blocks, which we call batches or final products, actually consist of 30 different rolls. We need to take the color of each roll separately and determine whether there are color transitions between these rolls, that is, between the batches. For this purpose, the quality control operator takes pieces from the fabric each time and takes 3 different pieces from each set of 30 different pieces by taking the edge centre edge. This is then combined and checked at the end of quality control. This process can take a very long time. With the ShadeBar product, we actually have an idea about this when we are doing the quality control process and when the process is finished. In fact, we can actually determine whether we should repair this product or do another process or whether whether we need to do something else, or whether it’s actually been spectro-approved. We can say that it provides a great advantage for us in terms of both operational and quality.

“Serkon Team fulfilled our demands about the product in a short time like 3 months”

In other words, if a product says that there is a edge difference when passing through the ShadeBar, we actually observed that we get the same values in our own spectrophotometers. The most critical thing here is that some requirements had to be completed in order for the product to come from a certain position in the field. When we shared this, they said that they could do these in a very excited and agile way. At the end of 3 months, we saw that all of them were completed.

Our main goal was to position this product on quality control machines. As a result of our discussions, we decided that the application on stenter machines would be more active and effective. We have also started the implementation of this product in large-scale drying machines, which we call drying machines or stenter machines, and we think that good results will come in a very short time.

In addition, since the Serkon team constantly contributes to the development of the product and completes the requirements, we think that we can actually use this product in different regions or in different projects in the future.

 Kağan Ayan / Sage Diniz Quality Manager

‘QBar.Al is Cost Advantageous Compared to Competitor Products’

Sage Diniz is a company that serves the automotive textile industry. We are a company with 50% Sage Otomotiv and 50% Diniz Holding that foreign partners. I have been working in the quality department of the company for 11 years. We manufacture laminated polyester fabrics for textile needs such as seats, headboards and door panels in vehicles. Before we met QBar.AI, we had been in contact with many companies for about 7 years, including world-famous companies and new initiatives. We were always offered high prices in terms of cost. We were never sure about the quality of the service we could get in return.

When we met Serkon, they offered us the opportunity to try the product on their prototype machines. As a result of these trials, we obtained very satisfactory values. We saw that the defects in our fabrics could be detected by QBar.AI. This was enough for us. When we compared it with similar products, we determined that it has a cost advantage, and when we calculated the return; we determined that it is within the acceptance criteria of our company. For this reason, we preferred QBar.AI.

“Our Customer Complaints Have Decreased Since We Started Using QBar.Al”

Each of our operators has to check 2,000 metres of fabric per day. This is where QBar.AI comes into play. Because QBar.AI can notify the operators of the errors it catches with a top performance throughout the entire shift. After we started using this product; we observed a decrease in complaints from our customers about visual errors.

We may have to reduce machine speed in quality control. In order to avoid any complaints from our customers, we are now able to recover the lost speeds thanks to our increased error catching capability with QBar.AI. We continue to control with the speeds we set at the beginning of the project.

There is a highly experienced team both participating in the assembly and providing after-sales support. A very good co-operation has been achieved not only with the team managing the project, but also with the operator friends using the device in the field. When we encounter any problems, we can get support regardless of the time, either through the QBar.AI application or through telephone channels. Apart from this, improvements were made on the programme in a short time by taking into account our various suggestions since the installation. We believe that this long-term co-operation will be carried further with QBar.AI.

Savaş Küçükerenköy / Küçükçalık Tekstil İnegöl Bursa Dyehouse Director

“In our tests, we found that QBar.Al gives very successful results”

Our company is among the leading companies in Turkey in the home textile, clothing and upholstery sectors. A while ago, we started a search to make the quality control system in our factory more controlled. As a result of my researches in domestic and international, I contacted Serkon, whose products I follow. We went to Serkon with samples we received from various fabrics we produce in our company. We experimented on our fabrics with the company’s machine for a long time. We observed how it would react to our fabrics. In our observations, we determined that the system was very successful and gave us good results.

This issue was also important for us in terms of cost. Because there is a depreciation period. In our meetings abroad, the prices were very high. The cost of Serkon was very reasonable for us. We decided to buy this system from Serkon Teknoloji, which is supported by artificial intelligence.

“QBar. AI technology can inspect the fabric without any mistakes at up to 2-3 times the speed”

QBar.AI product has many advantages for us. For example, in the traditional method, the quality control of fabrics is done by humans. Humans cannot always focus on the fabric completely and may miss some mistakes. Therefore, sometimes there may be problems with customers. However, QBar.AI system definitely does not miss any mistakes. Since we started using the product, our customer complaints have started to decrease significantly. In addition, humans can check the fabric at a certain speed, QBar.AI technology can check the fabric without mistakes up to 2-3 times the speed. Therefore, it has provided us with great benefits.

“Humans can make mistakes, but QBar.AI does not”

We also discussed the ShadeBar system with Serkon Teknoloji. We installed both the quality control and color control system behind our stenter machine. ShadeBar shows us the color differences that may occur from the beginning to the end of the order within a certain tolerance value.

Thanks to this, we have become 100% autonomous in fabric quality control. It is very important for a local company to speak the same language. Serkon Teknoloji’s technical team provided serious support to integrate the product with other automations in the factory. They adapted the products to our existing software and met all kinds of data exchanges immediately. For this reason, I would like to thank the technical team very much. I can say, ‘People can make mistakes, but QBar.AI does not.’