Tasman Tanning, a leading tannery in New Zealand, was facing challenges with its manual hide grading process. The labor-intensive nature of the task resulted in inconsistent quality assessments and suboptimal hide allocation.
With only a few seconds to grade a hide, and one master grader available, the manual leather grading process hindered Tasman Tanning's ability to accurately detect defects and calculate a grade within the short time available, leading to inefficiencies in hide usage and a higher rate of rejects. The company sought a solution that would improve throughput while ensuring reliable and consistent quality assessment.
Tasman Tanning partnered with Mindhive Global to implement their automated wet-blue leather grading system, powered by machine vision.
Pablo Medina, the Continuous Improvement Manager, explains, “When we contacted Mindhive, we were looking for a solution that helped us increase our throughput through the operation and also give reliance and robustness to the quality assessment of the hides.”
Mindhive Grading allowed for quicker, more accurate inspection and classification, optimizing the allocation of hides and reducing the percentage of rejects downstream.
Since adopting Mindhive Grading, Tasman Tanning has seen significant improvements. When hides can be classified between two grades or use cases, human graders heavily rely on Mindhive’s automated leather grading system to determine the hide’s best allocation.
The AI-powered leather grading system improved defect detection, reducing the reject percentage and ensuring that hides were better utilized.
The accurate grading allowed for better allocation of hides, minimizing waste and enhancing overall efficiency, making the job easier for the operators.
The automation of the grading process significantly increased operational speed and boosted the overall throughput of the tannery.
Pablo praises the collaborative approach and adaptability, stating, “Mindhive Global has been really great at helping us tailor the solution to our needs… and we have received great results from their leather grading system. We’ve been able to halve our reject percentage downstream... and properly allocate hides, which means we have optimized our hide usage. Not only that, but we have been able to increase the throughput of operation.”
He recommends Mindhive Global to other tanneries looking to improve their processes through AI, emphasizing the increased efficiency, accuracy, and ease of operation achieved at Tasman Tanning. “I would recommend Mindhive Grading to anyone who’s willing to try new approaches... by using artificial intelligence you’re improving the process, increasing your throughput and speed and making the job more easy for everyone involved.”