Founded in the 1960s as a machine tool distributorship, Pressco Technology Inc. has come a long way.
"In the mid-80s we were contracted by Crown Cork & Seal to develop machine vision for one of their end-making plants. Today, we are a high-speed, online vision- and sensor-based company for high-speed manufacturers in the U.S. and abroad," says Fritz Awig; VP engineering and operations.
Pressco supplies turnkey high-speed vision inspection systems to the food and beverage industry, aluminum extrusion manufacturing, and the postal sorting sector. By continuously investing in new technologies, the Cleveland company is well positioned to provide vision-inspection equipment as well as intelligent process-control products.
"Pressco's main product is a modular platform of electronics and software to which we can attach a variety of sensors, whether they're vision-based, camera-based, with analog or digital sensors that read various information about the manufacture of a product," Awig says. "Our Intellispec [vision platform] system gathers that information, analyzes that information, makes 'accept' and 'reject' decisions, provides process-control information and feeds it into the high-speed plant network for collecting manufacturing and defect data."
To date, the company has shipped more than 5,000 turnkey systems to more than 60 countries. About 60 percent of its production is shipped overseas. The company employs between 140 and 150 people, with 10 jobs to be added this year.
Based on an adaptable, modular design, the platform's central processor can manage up to eight high-speed cameras spread across multiple lanes. Each inspection module is designed to withstand the rugged environment of a manufacturing facility. The lighting and optical components provide maximum performance for the desired inspection, and additional modules can be purchased as inspection needs grow and change.
Family-owned since 1966, Pressco has grown between 10 and 14 percent annually over the last six years.
"As Don (Corcoran, the company's president) likes to say, 'No matter how good or bad the economy is, people are still going to eat and drink,'" says Awig.
Source: Fritz Awig, Pressco Technology Inc.
Writer: Patrick G. Mahoney