The Customer
Having almost 10,000 systems installed worldwide, BST PRO MARK has grown into a specialist in printing process controls. Their product lines now include visual inspection, 100% inspection and defect detection, web guiding, web cleaning and static control, bar code verification, Flexo register control, quality control for rubber and tire manufacturing, offset register control and automatic ink metering for web offset.The Problem
BST ProMark came to SSI seeking experienced software engineers for their new product, BST Genius, a Windows GUI Application to control cameras used for the remote monitoring and inspection of a printing press for color quality, ink imperfections (i.e. streaking), bar code accuracy, and more. This object-oriented system manipulates camera hardware over a network using a dual monitor with touch-screen and Windows 2000 OS. Unlike a typical gray and white windows application, this application gained a very futuristic look using "skins" or graphic images. "Skins" give an application a unique appearance.The SSI Solution
Working with BST developers responsible for image processing
and camera engineering, SSI created custom windows controls for
camera movement, adjustment of zoom and focus, and setting of
tolerance levels for error alerts. Using COM/DCOM to communicate
with the camera over a network, images representing a larger picture
(as wide as 10ft) are pieced together like pieces of a puzzle
and are displayed in the Genius application. Visible and audible
alerts notify the printer to errors found in the printing process.
Using SSI's custom camera controls, closer inspection and setting
of tolerance levels for different types of errors and error locations
can be made from remote locations.
To minimize customer support calls, developers at SSI also provided context sensitive help using an embedded web browser.





