Key points
- Turnkey means the station is delivered working on your line: hardware, licence, recipes, mounting, signals, testing, training and documents.
- Changes to the line around the station, utilities, electrical supply, civil work and the plant network usually stay with your plant or your line builder.
- PLC program changes are made by whoever owns the program; we supply the interface description and test the signals with them.
- The reject and its confirmation sensor are part of a complete station; on smaller scopes the station drives your existing reject unless the proposal adds one.
- Every proposal lists what is included and what is excluded, so nothing is assumed on either side.
What a turnkey station includes
A turnkey station is one that addaScan hands over working on your line, not a box of parts. Everything the station needs to inspect, decide and signal the result is in scope, together with the testing that proves it and what your team needs to run it. The list below is the usual scope; the proposal for your line confirms each item, as the delivery stages describe.
| Item | What it covers | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vision hardware | Cameras or smart cameras, lenses, lighting, and a PC or vision controller where the station needs one. | Chosen on the sample test; the models are listed in the proposal. |
| Software licence | The inspection software licence for the station, including deep-learning modules where a check needs them. | On a smart camera the software runs in the camera. |
| Inspection recipes | One recipe per product on the agreed list, with limits set on your samples and recorded. | Products added after handover follow the support plan. |
| Mounting | Brackets and stands for cameras and lights, with adjustment that can be locked and marked. | So the position can be restored after cleaning or a knock. |
| Shroud or lighting enclosure | A shroud that keeps daylight and overhead light out and protects the optics. | A washdown or dust-rated housing where the area needs one. |
| I/O and PLC signals | Trigger, result, ready and fault signals, and recipe selection, by hard-wired I/O or a network link. | Written into the PLC interface description. |
| Reject with confirmation | The reject device and a sensor that confirms each failed product left the line. | Part of a complete station; on smaller scopes, see below. |
| Operator screen | Result, recent reject images, counts, the recipe in use and faults; limit changes restricted by user role. | A display at the station or a page on your HMI, as the proposal states. |
| FAT and SAT | A factory acceptance test on the agreed samples before delivery, and a site acceptance test on your line. | Pass criteria agreed before the station is built. |
| Training | Operator training for daily use; technician training for cleaning, reference checks and new products. | For the shifts and people named in the proposal. |
| Documents | Station description, wiring and I/O list, PLC interface description, operating instructions, recipe files, configuration backup and support plan. | Handed over with the signed SAT. |
What is excluded or supplied by you
Some work sits outside the station because it changes your line, your building or your systems, or because the law or your site rules say who may do it. These items are listed as excluded or supplied by you in every proposal, unless the proposal includes them by name.
| Item | What it means | Usually supplied by |
|---|---|---|
| Conveyor changes | Lengthening a conveyor, moving guides, adding a transfer or changing product spacing. | Your fitters or the line builder. A complete station brings its own conveyor section. |
| Utilities to the point of use | Compressed air for an air-jet or pusher reject, and any other utility the station needs. | Your plant. The proposal states what the station needs and where. |
| PLC program changes by the line’s own integrator | Changes to a PLC program that another integrator or your own programmer owns. | The owner of the program, working from our interface description. |
| Civil and structural work | Floor fixings, plinths, platforms, moving other equipment, cable trays outside the station. | Your contractor. |
| Electrical supply | A new circuit, isolator or distribution board work to feed the station. | Your registered electrician or electrical contractor. |
| Plant network | Switch ports, IP addresses, firewall rules, remote-access approval and any server for images or data. | Your IT team. |
| Travel outside Gauteng | Travel and accommodation for survey, installation and SAT outside Gauteng. | Quoted separately. |
| Annual support | Support after handover beyond what the support plan includes. | Quoted separately; the support plan states what is covered. |
Why the electrical supply stays with your plant. Under South Africa’s Electrical Installation Regulations, only a registered person may issue a certificate of compliance for an electrical installation (Electrical Installation Regulations, 2009, regulation 9). A new circuit or isolator for the station is therefore done by your registered electrician or electrical contractor, who certifies it as part of your installation. addaScan wires the station itself from the agreed supply point.
Why the plant network stays with your IT team. A station that sends results to a PLC network, stores images on a server or allows remote help touches your network and its security rules. Your IT team assigns ports and addresses and decides on remote access; the station is set up to match. The image archive guide covers what to store and for how long. The guide to vision data for OEE and MES lists what a station can hand over.
Who does which trade
Most misunderstandings on a vision project are about the work around the station, not the station. Reading across a trade shows where addaScan’s scope ends and yours begins.
| Trade | addaScan (the station) | Your plant or line builder |
|---|---|---|
| Vision engineering | Optics, lighting, recipes, limits, test records. | Your quality team supplies samples and approves limits and borderline decisions. |
| Mechanical | Camera and light mounts, shrouds, housings; in a complete station, the conveyor section, handling and guarding. | Changes to the existing line: guides, conveyors, transfers, removing obstructions. |
| Electrical | Wiring inside the station and to its I/O, from an agreed supply point. | Supply to that point, isolation and the certificate of compliance for the installation. |
| Pneumatics | Reject valve and tubing inside the station, where the reject is in scope. | Compressed air to the point of use. |
| PLC | The vision side of every signal, the interface description, and testing the signals together. | Changes to the PLC program, by whoever owns it. |
| IT and network | Station network settings as agreed with your IT team. | Switch ports, addresses, firewall, remote access, servers. |
| Civil and structural | None. | Floors, plinths, platforms and structural changes. |
| Machine safety | Guarding that is part of a complete station. | Safety of the line as a whole. The vision station is not a safety function. |
How this matches the scope levels on the cost guide
The cost and budget guide groups stations into three scope levels. The items above apply to all three; what changes is how much of the line around the camera is part of the station.
| Scope level | Station includes | Stays with you |
|---|---|---|
| Single-view check | One smart camera or camera with lighting, mounting and shroud, recipes, digital I/O to your existing PLC and reject, FAT, SAT, training, documents. | The reject and conveyor already on the line, PLC program changes if another party owns the program, utilities, electrical supply, network. |
| Multi-view station | Several cameras and lights, a PC or vision controller with its licence, a recipe per product, a PLC network link, an operator screen, FAT, SAT, training, documents. | As for a single-view check, plus the network port and addresses for the PLC link. |
| Complete station | A multi-view station plus a conveyor section, product handling, a reject with confirmation, and guarding. | Utilities and electrical supply to the station, civil work, the plant network, and changes to the line upstream and downstream. |
The indicative ranges for the three scope levels on the cost guide include vision hardware, software licence, application engineering, installation in Gauteng, FAT, SAT and training. They exclude VAT, changes to your line outside the station, utilities, travel outside Gauteng, annual support, and line-scan, 3D or telecentric systems. Complete line solutions that use line-scan, 3D or telecentric systems carry their own budgets on the line solutions pages. For every scope, a firm price follows the sample test.
Items decided case by case
A few items move between the two lists depending on the line. They are the ones to read most carefully in a quotation.
- The reject. Included in a complete station. On smaller scopes, the station uses the reject already on the line if it can remove the failed product reliably; if not, a new reject or a confirmation sensor is added and listed. How tracking and confirmation work is covered in the PLC and reject integration guide.
- PLC program changes. Made by whoever owns the program. If that is us, the work is listed; if it is your integrator or programmer, the proposal names the signals they need to add.
- Conveyor and guides. Excluded on smaller scopes, included as a conveyor section in a complete station. Where products are not presented consistently, the proposal states what has to change on the line.
- Housings. A standard shroud is included; a washdown or dust-rated housing is included where the area needs one and is listed as such.
- Number of products. Recipes are included for the products on the agreed list. Products added later follow the support plan.
Scope checklist before you accept a quotation
- Every view and check is named, with the products it covers.
- The reject is named: existing, new, or part of a complete station, with or without confirmation.
- The PLC signals are listed, and it is clear who changes the PLC program.
- Utilities, electrical supply and network needs are stated, with who provides each.
- FAT and SAT pass criteria are written down, including the sample set and the speed.
- Training names the groups to be trained; the document set is listed.
- Travel, support after handover and anything else excluded is listed as excluded.
The same questions help when comparing suppliers; the guide to choosing a machine vision integrator adds the rest.