R-AI-VQC: REACH Agrifood AI-supported Visual Quality Control

Augmented-Reality

REACH equips small and mid-size food processors with an always-on, AI-based inspection system that catches defects the moment they appear and feeds live process data back to the line. The goal: keep shelves safe, cut waste and free skilled operators for higher-value work.

Why it matters

Food safety and spotless packaging are non-negotiable, yet skilled quality-assurance staff are increasingly hard to find. Varga-Szárnyas Kft. – the pilot plant behind REACH – must meet rising customer expectations while compensating for this talent gap. Continuous, data-driven inspection is the only scalable answer: by collecting real-time machine and video data on the packaging line, hazards can be spotted and fixed before products ever leave the factory. As the company expands, AI model-training promises continuous quality gains without adding head-count

What we built

REACH installs a digital “inspector” above the conveyor:

  • High-definition cameras stream every pack to the cloud.
  • Deep-neural-network models, refined through transfer learning, flag the tiniest flaw within milliseconds.
  • Real-time statistical-process-control dashboards show operators exactly where – and when – to intervene, so quality issues are solved at the start of production, not the end.

This combination delivers a cost-effective, SME-friendly alternative to manual spot-checks.

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Impact so far

  • A 15 % jump in production efficiency at Varga-Szárnyas Kft., thanks to fewer unplanned stops and faster decisions .
  • Around 10 % improvement in overall product quality, cutting waste and recall risk .
  • A growing cloud-based agrifood image library that lets other SMEs deploy the same AI with minimal extra data collection

What happens next

Mortoff Kft. and Varga-Szárnyas Kft. are now weaving the REACH engine into a full Manufacturing Execution System (MES), while mapping new production hot-spots where AI can lift both throughput and quality . Similar upgrades have already been proposed to other European food processors, and the team will continue expanding the model library so that state-of-the-art visual inspection becomes a plug-and-play service for agrifood SMEs everywhere. 

Testimonial
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By using the REACH system and AI-based quality control, manufacturing efficiency has improved, the percentage of discarded products is down, and an affordable, innovative solution for food companies has been created.

Tímea Galambos, Integration Manager, Varga-Szárnyas Kft.