MHI Solutions Magazine Features ThruWave 3D mmWave Imaging
Article: Cutting Edge Innovations Compete for Annual Honor
MHI Solutions is a quarterly publication produced by the Material Handling Institute full of industry news, feature articles and resources across the supply chain. The Q3 2021 issue covers how innovation is driving supply chain resilience, workplaces of the future, the eCommerce surge, focuses on women in the supply chain and the MHI Innovation Awards.
As a winner of the Best New Innovation award, ThruWave is featured alongside finalist companies in this award category: AutoStore, Big Ass Fans, Fives Intralogistics, Geek+, SVT Robotics, Siera.ai, Vecna Robotics, Waypoint Robotics and Wiferion.
Digital Supply Chains Are Now Table Stakes
Click here to read the full digital issue
This blog post includes excerpts from the article by Greg Baer, MHI Director of Sales, titled Cutting Edge Innovations Compete for Annual Honor. The article educates on the MHI Innovation Award categories, selection process, and an introduction to each of the top three award winners plus the full list of finalist companies.
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It’s a great time to be in supply chain and material handling, with new solutions contributing to the advancement of the industry. This year MHI received 92 submissions their annual innovation awards (Best New Innovation, Best Innovation of an Existing Product and Best IT Innovation).
The judges were so impressed with the entries that for the first time ever, 10 different finalists were selected for each award. You can read about each finalist company and the top award winners in this latest edition of MHI Solutions magazine on pages 56-61.
ThruWave 3D mmWave Imaging System Uses Millimeter Wave Technology to See Through Boxes, Cartons, and Totes at High Speeds
While most automated inspection systems are camera-based and only see the surface of objects, ThruWave’s 3D mmWave imaging system utilizes millimeter wave technology that sees through opaque packaging. Equipped with high-throughput sensors and software, the system automatically scans items at conveyor speeds up to 600 feet-per-minute.
The 3D mmWave imaging solution can detect the contents of corrugated boxes and plastic totes without opening the packaging, explained ThruWave CEO Pieter Krynauw. "Objects detected by our sensing hardware are reconstructed into 3D images on premise or in the cloud," he said. "Once images have been digitally reconstructed, it becomes easy to inspect and analyze for anomalies like missing items, contraband and leaks, or to validate inventory accuracy via item counts, fill fraction or cube utilization."
ThruWave entered in the Innovation Awards because of its unique functionality, as well as its ability to improve business and operational performance across multiple areas—from reducing costs and carbon footprint to improving quality and safety, he said. The core platform of millimeter wave sensing technology and image reconstruction software can be customized for different industries and applications with the addition of appropriately tailored analytical software modules. The modules provide users with specific insights and visibility that allow for process optimization.
Prior to the ThruWave, Krynauw continued, the only way to determine the contents of a sealed package was to open it or subject it to an X-ray, which can be hazardous to humans: "Both of those options are either impractical or cost prohibitive in many supply chain applications."
Recent ThruWave News and Resources
