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Process

How a project
runs at IAS.

A project should not start with a machine quote. It should start with a straight answer on what you need and what it will take. Inspection projects run through five gated phases, each separately scoped and approved. Machines, panels and retrofits follow a simpler path, scoped and quoted job by job. Both are below, and each names exactly what you provide and exactly what you receive, so both sides know what done looks like before work starts.

Start here

Two kinds of projects.

IAS Osprey inspection projects

Five gated phases, from a free fit review through Osprey Assist. Each phase is separately scoped and approved, and each one names what you provide and what you receive.

The five phases

Machines, panels and retrofits

Custom machines, control panels, retrofits and fabrication follow a simpler defined path: scope and quote, design and build, run off and install, support. Quoted job by job.

The build path

The IAS Osprey inspection process

Five phases. Each one is approved before the next one starts.

Select a phase to see what you provide, what you receive, and what has to be true before the next phase starts.

0

Is this worth anybody's money, and is there a cheaper answer?

You provide

  • The defect, with representative good and bad samples
  • How the inspection is done today, and why it is still manual
  • Line speed, product variation and SKU mix
  • What the problem costs in labor, scrap, escapes or rework

You receive

  • A straight answer on whether your application is a good fit for automated inspection
  • A recommended next step, including conventional vision or an off-the-shelf sensor if that solves it cheaper
  • A fixed scope Phase 1 proposal if the application is a fit
GateProceed only when the problem is technically plausible and economically meaningful, samples are available, and someone owns the eventual production decision. No accuracy promises are made at this stage.
1

One question, answered quickly: can the defect be reliably distinguished from good product? We place an image capture station on your shop floor to collect data from real product running on your line. After data collection, we train the AI model to show a proof of concept.

You provide

  • A spot on your shop floor for our image capture station, plus known bad examples for each defect class
  • A network connection for the capture station, so collected images can be sent back to IAS; your images remain yours and are used only for your models
  • Clear defect definitions and acceptance criteria
  • Timely access to your subject matter experts

You receive

  • A GO, CONDITIONAL GO or NO-GO recommendation
  • Measured validation results from bench camera, lighting and model testing
  • Known limitations and failure modes, in writing
  • A recommended production architecture with a budgetary price range
GateProceed only on a GO or CONDITIONAL GO with the limitations in writing. A defensible no-go is a successful outcome of this phase, and this is the cheapest place to learn it. The clock starts once data collection is complete.
2

We prove it on our line, set up to simulate yours at your required speed, before the machine is engineered.

You provide

  • Representative product shipped to IAS in production quantity
  • Operators and quality personnel for ground truth review
  • Line details: speed, conveyance, spacing and reject window
  • Written performance and acceptance metrics

You receive

  • A production validation report
  • Measured false accept and false reject rates against operator disposition
  • A validated camera, lighting, compute and controls architecture
  • Documented remaining risks and a defined Phase 3 quotation
GateBefore deployment is quoted, we ask you to reconfirm the business case, the budget path and the timing. If any of those have changed, the project stops here, on purpose.
3

The validated application is engineered into a production machine, installed and accepted against written criteria.

You provide

  • Approved system scope and purchase order
  • Facility requirements and production line access
  • Network, safety and plant standards
  • Final FAT and SAT acceptance criteria

You receive

  • A complete production inspection system, with reject handling and machine safety
  • Control panels from our UL 508A listed shop, with full electrical and controls documentation
  • The trained models and configured runtime for the contracted application, on a deployment architecture engineered to your plant standards
  • FAT and SAT records, operator training and a handoff package
GateAcceptance is against written FAT and SAT criteria agreed before the build. New SKUs, new defect classes and additional lines are scoped separately.
4

Ongoing support, model management and retraining as products and line conditions change.

You provide

  • Remote access when required
  • Notice of product and SKU changes
  • Representative samples for new defects

You receive

  • System health and performance reviews
  • Model and version management, backups and software support
  • Data analytics dashboards for quick decision making
  • Retraining for drift on covered SKUs within the plan, and an optional annual onsite review
  • Support hours and response commitments, defined in writing in the Osprey Assist agreement
ScopeA deployment covers the SKU set named in the acceptance criteria. New SKU or new defect packages are quoted by complexity, and similar formats are typically grouped into one package rather than quoted per label. New lines and new sites are new deployment scopes.

The second path

Machines, panels and retrofits

Not every job needs five gates. Custom machines, control panels, retrofits and fabrication follow a simpler defined path, with the acceptance criteria in writing before work starts.

1. Scope and quote

Fixed scope and written acceptance criteria before work starts.

2. Design and build

Engineering, controls, UL 508A panels, fabrication and assembly in house.

3. Run off and install

Assembled and run off on our floor against the acceptance criteria (FAT), then installed and accepted on site (SAT), with documentation and training.

4. Support

Remote and onsite support, or a PM service with IAS.

Scoped and quoted job by job. Tell us what is in front of you.

Alignment

The rules both sides can count on

Separate approvals

Each phase is approved on the results of the one before it. No open-ended engineering, and no surprise scope.

Written acceptance

Every phase has acceptance criteria in writing before work starts, so done means the same thing to both of us.

Your schedule

Schedules start when each phase has the data and samples it needs.

We stop at no

A no-go or a changed business case ends the project cleanly. We do not rescue a dead project with more engineering.

Before you call

The fit check.

The same questions we would ask on the fit review call. Nothing is sent anywhere, and a no is a perfectly good result.

Fit check Question 1 of 5
Where to start If your operators can see the defect, but conventional machine vision cannot reliably detect it, show it to IAS. For defects that are hard to see with a standard camera, we can also apply other types of sensors.

Phase 0

Start with a fit review.

Bring us the defect and representative samples. The fit review is free, and a defensible no is a valid outcome of the review.