Norrspect wants to eliminate defects in manufacturing with new technology

Defects creeping into manufacturing processes is a huge problem in the manufacturing industry. It can lead to increased costs, time-consuming rework and, in the worst case, dissatisfied end customers and a weakened brand. With a passion for new technology and efficiency improvements, and expertise in AI and machine learning, the new incubator company Norrspect has developed software that the team believes can help solve the problem.

“Our AI algorithms monitor manufacturing with a precision that surpasses human capabilities. We can help manufacturing companies eliminate defects and ensure that every product meets the highest possible quality standards,” says Ulrik Söderström, co-founder and CEO.

Ulrik is a senior lecturer in media technology and works with interaction technology, signal processing, image processing, sustainable development and project management at Umeå University. It was in this role that he met Aman Malhotra, today co-founder and CTO. Aman is a robotics engineer from India who has built and developed robots and software since the age of seventeen.

– A large part of visual quality inspections in industry is still done manually. We want to create an automated quality inspection that can complement or replace manual inspection. Our idea is to free human labor from repetitive tasks so that they can do more advanced tasks that are more difficult to automate. At the same time, we want to increase the quality and efficiency of production and reduce production costs, says Aman.

The proprietary AI model is the heart of the solution.

– Our AI model in combination with cameras makes it possible to inspect every single component that is produced and also do it at the same time as the product is being produced. So there is no need to do the quality inspection afterwards. When the product is finished, it has also been ensured that it is of the right quality, says Ulrik.

And who is a potential customer?

– Currently, we focus more on a certain market, but really all companies that produce something that you can visually see. Our potential customers are mainly companies that have a high volume in their production, and or produce something with high value, says Aman.

The duo sees many advantages in now receiving business support from Uminova Innovation.

– We meet with the business developers regularly and receive workshops on various topics related to entrepreneurship. We have also received help with formulating agreements and other things that we need to have in place. Then it is also fun to meet other companies in the incubator, other entrepreneurs who have made a similar journey as we are now, says Ulrik.