BIC New Zealand Ltd. (Auckland, New Zealand), one of a number of BIC Corp. (Milford, CT) subsidiaries around the globe, manufactures about 15 million felt-tip pens each year using a customized automated assembly machine. These pens are then sold throughout New Zealand, Mexico, Chile, Canada and the United States.
Although reliable, the machine occasionally creates defective pens as a result of improperly fed parts or tips that split during insertion. In the past, the company relied on operators to spot defects. But, because of high-production speeds, guaranteeing consistent product quality was difficult, if not impossible.