Mitsubishi Electric is a supplier of contact image sensors (CIS) and Koenig & Bauer is a pioneer in industrial printing applications and in-line imaging systems for various applications. By integrating Mitsubishi Electric's line scan bars (CIS) and Koenig & Bauer's illumination units, the companies aim to develop various modules that create suitable imaging conditions for the surfaces of battery cells that are difficult to inspect with conventional and currently available systems.

In anticipation of an increasing demand for lithium-ion batteries, Mitsubishi Electric and Koenig & Bauer are responding with their partnership to the trend of the increasing spread of electric vehicles as well as the requirements in the entertainment industry or in the power grid. According to calculations by the Boston Consulting Group, the supply of lithium-ion batteries will have to increase tenfold by 2030 in order to meet market demand. Machine vision is a key technology that can help battery manufacturers achieve this by improving their quality control and automation capabilities, reducing waste and thus contributing to sustainability goals and cost reduction.

"We are pleased to work with Koenig & Bauer and bring our innovative vision solutions in the form of standardized modules to the electrode foil production for batteries, as this reduces the integration effort," emphasizes Martin Messy, Director CIS at Mitsubishi Electric. "In our cooperation with Mitsubishi Electric, we are using our many years of experience in the development and construction of printing presses as well as inline and offline image processing systems for quality control in a completely different area," emphasizes Julian Schubert, Vice President Data, Vision and Authentication Solutions at Koenig & Bauer. "We are convinced that our powerful illumination units, our own integrated frame grabbers and the Line Scan Bar from Mitsubishi Electric will provide optimal imaging conditions for battery cell inspection and enable our customers to produce safer and more reliable battery products."

Following initial joint projects, line scan bars from Mitsubishi are already being used successfully in some industries in combination with lighting units from Koenig & Bauer. The partnership now concluded is the next step in exploiting synergies and offering value-adding solutions in a rapidly growing market.