Inspecting and testing every part and/or product is the ultimate aspiration in quality control, and automation in many instances allows manufacturers to achieve that goal. And as robots continue to become more capable, easier to use and affordable, the automation of a task by a robot often means that the inspection that was previously done by an operator also needs be automated.

Consider a manufacturer producing plastic injection molded products that automates its packaging process. Prior to automation, a worker visually inspected the products as he or she packaged them. After adding a robot, no one was there to conduct this inspection while they packaged parts, so the facility had to then also automate that visual inspection task. This type of scenario typifies the reason for automated inspection.