The global machine vision market has significantly expanded across countries, industries, and applications over the last two decades. This growth can be attributed to the increasing demand for quality inspection and automation. Companies are pressed to meet the growing customer demands in a shorter timeframe. They need superior inspection and measurement tools for their industrial operations. Sensitivity and resolution of machine vision systems largely depend on the type of lens and lighting to capture a correctly illuminated image of the inspected object. As an optical component development specialist in the machine vision industry, VS Technology (VST) caters to the demand for lens and lighting components in machine vision systems with its vast array of products.

VST is dedicated to developing top-of-the-line optical components and reducing the processing time it takes to proceed from prototype design to full-scale manufacturing of the finalized product. “We rely on individual teams delegated to various roles, in an effort to decrease decision-making and processing time for planning, delivery, and installation,” says Hiroki Hachisu, Director of VST (Thailand). For custom products, VST’s designs a prototype and submits a first proposal for the customer to evaluate. Once the product specifications are finalized, VST begins mass production and proceeds to the delivery and installation stage.

Founded two decades ago in Akasaka, Tokyo, VST has offices in Japan and several other countries. Data is collected from each location to tailor the company’s products according to each region’s market needs for optical components. “These insights allow us to quickly anticipate future market demands and gain an edge over other competitors in the arena,” says Hachisu.

We are not just an OEM, but we provide optical component solutions in a timely manner

The network of offices also serves to enhance customer service and enables glocalized sales, marketing, inventory, and logistics support. VST has over 500 different types of lenses in its product portfolio at present; this extensive collection helps the company cater to the demands of clients from various industries. For instance, semiconductor and electronics companies require macro lenses that have a variety of attributes such as low distortion, vibration resistance, high resolution, and fixed magnification. On the other hand, the food and packing industry mainly relies on fixed focal length lenses.

VST offers a variety of telecentric, macro, fixed focal length, line scan, and zoom lenses. Till date, VST’s most successful product is the distortion-less macro lens, which is optimized for capturing images at short distances and provides the best results in terms of optical performance. The distortion-less macro lenses include the high-resolution VS-LDA series, VS-LLD series, and the more recent VS-MCA series that features vibration resistance. When it comes to surveillance, VST offers security lenses that are ideal for long distance monitoring of locations such as ports, borders, and coasts among others, both during the day and night. Apart from lenses, machine vision systems require appropriate lighting components for specific applications. VST develops and manufactures a wide range of LED lighting products for machine vision and smart camera industries, under a subsidiary called VAL Lighting. Although VAL Lighting was established only in 2012, its portfolio has grown to 350 models.

Because of the increasing demand for more sophisticated features in machine vision systems, VST plans to collaborate with companies that are specialized in developing specific hardware components such as sensors for machine vision systems. These partnerships are directed in tune with the company’s goal of continuous improvement to exceed customer expectations. “We are not just an OEM, but we provide optical component solutions in a timely manner,” concludes Hachisu.