What to ask visual inspection automation vendors and what to get from them: sample test conditions, scope of supply, line integration, retraining, in a…
What should we check when choosing a machine vision or visual inspection automation vendor?
Look at results tested on your own product rather than catalog numbers. Get missed defects, false rejects and throughput on the same samples under the same conditions and compare them, and check how far the scope of supply goes, from camera and lighting to installation and training, and who handles line integration and retraining, and how.
What to decide on your side before comparing
If each vendor talks about different samples and different criteria, you cannot compare them. Write down four things first.
The product, faces and size to inspect
The defects to find, their smallest size, and your internal acceptance criteria
Output per hour and how products arrive
Your current inspection method and staffing, and why you want to change
What to ask vendors
Item: Sample test; What to ask: Will you test with our samples? Under what conditions?; What to look for in the answer: Number of good and defective parts, evaluation unit, results table
Item: Conditions behind the figures; What to ask: What data was that figure measured on, and by whom?; What to look for in the answer: A number without conditions cannot be compared
Item: Imaging; What to ask: Do you look at the camera and lighting too?; What to look for in the answer: Whether they first check that defects are visible in the images
Item: Scope of supply; What to ask: Which of hardware, software, installation, training and maintenance do you cover?; What to look for in the answer: Whether anything is missing from the quote
Item: Line integration; What to ask: How do you connect to the PLC and the reject device, and how much decision time do you allow?; What to look for in the answer: Whether the longest case fits within the cycle
Item: Retraining; What to ask: When a new defect or product appears, who retrains and how?; What to look for in the answer: Whether your own staff can do it, and what it costs
Item: Data; What to ask: Where do images and models reside?; What to look for in the answer: On-premises or cloud, and whether that fits your internal rules
How to compare on equal terms
Send the same set of samples to several vendors and get the results back in the same table. Comparison gets easier if you ask them to write in the table whether the evaluation unit is the image or the product, and which defects were included and how many. The table format is in how to check missed defects, false rejects and throughput.
Do not look at one number alone. Even with few missed defects, many false rejects mean people have to look again, and even if both are good, the system is unusable if it cannot keep up with line speed. A test without defect samples cannot calculate a missed-defect rate.
When comparing prices
Comparing only the total means weighing quotes with different configurations. Get them broken down by item: camera and lens, lighting, handling, reject device, decision software, installation and training. What moves the cost for each item is set out in what determines the cost of a compact inspection machine.
If you ask INTELLIZ
To the questions in the table above, we answer as follows.
Sample test: after reviewing samples and site conditions, we tell you whether the inspection can be applied. What to prepare before sending samples is on the contact page.
Conditions behind the figures: the external test average of 2.47ms holds under one condition (segmentation engine, per 1024×1024 image, KIPT test), and it is not total inspection time. The 30+ paid deployments and 6 industries are company tallies (as of October 2026).
Scope of supply and price: we do not publish prices. Whether installation, training and maintenance are included, and their scope, is given in a quote after checking samples and the site.
Checking before installation: imaging conditions and inspection performance can be checked in an IntLearn Kinesis virtual cell.
Data: IntLearn Pro is on-premises software that runs on a Windows PC.
Retraining: models are retrained and revalidated with data from the line, and models and inspection criteria are bundled into an inspection package (.izpkg) and applied.
Limits and cautions
This table is a list of questions to help comparison, not a test with right answers. Which configuration is right depends on your product and line.