Track Visual Defects Where They Happen — And See Where They Keep Coming Back
Capture visual defects at the inspection station, record exactly where they appear on the product, and give your team the reporting needed to reduce recurring quality issues instead of just sorting them.
10in6 connects defect entry, location-based defect tracking, and visual reporting so quality teams can see not only what defects are occurring, but where and how often they are showing up.
Most manufacturers do not struggle because they cannot see visual defects.
They struggle because the defect is seen, the part is judged, and the useful information gets lost.
An inspector may know what the defect was, where it appeared, and whether the product could be repaired or had to be rejected. But if that information is captured inconsistently, written down too broadly, or not tied to the product record in a useful way, the team is left with a weak history and a weak improvement loop.
That makes it harder to answer questions like:
- What defects are occurring most often
- Where on the product they usually appear
- Whether the issue is concentrated on a specific component or area
- Whether it is getting better or worse over time
- Whether the defect is being repaired or driving scrap
10in6 Visual Inspection changes that by turning the inspection decision into structured, searchable data.
How 10in6 Visual Inspection works
When the product reaches the inspection station, the inspector sees an image of the product on screen and records the defect directly against that visual reference — indicating the location, selecting the defect category, and confirming the disposition decision.
- A product image on screen as the inspection reference
- Step-by-step guidance for the inspection sequence
- The ability to indicate exactly where the defect appears on the product
- A structured defect category list for consistent classification
- A disposition step to confirm repair or reject
- Defect type
- Defect category and sub-category
- Location of the defect on the product
- Component or sub-component affected
- Repair or reject disposition
- Serial-number level defect history
Instead of recording only that a defect happened, the plant builds a more complete picture of what happened and where — and that picture becomes more useful every time a new inspection is completed.
Defect entry at the inspection station
The inspector scans a serial number, selects the defect category and type, then places the defect directly on the part image. Every entry becomes a structured, searchable record.
Every defect placed on the part diagram becomes a searchable, reportable record — tied to the serial number, the operator, and the inspection timestamp.
What you can capture
Defect categories and sub-categories
Classify visual defects consistently so your team can trend them over time instead of relying on vague descriptions that hide the real pattern.
Defect location on the product image
Inspectors can indicate where they see the defect directly on the product image, which makes the data far more useful for recurring-issue analysis than a text-only entry.
Repair or reject decisions
Capture whether the product can be repaired or must be rejected so defect entry supports both quality analysis and disposition decisions — not just a pass/fail count.
Serial-number level defect history
Record defects by serial number so the team can trace the issue back to the individual product record when needed.
Multiple product views
Support inspection from different product angles — such as top, bottom, front, or side — when the product shape and inspection process require more than one visual perspective.
Component and sub-component defects
Track issues at a more detailed level when the quality problem is tied to a specific area or subassembly rather than only the finished unit.
With 10in6 Visual Inspection, your team can move beyond a defect count and into defect insight:
- See which visual defects are happening most often
- Use Pareto-style reporting to identify which defect types are creating the most impact
- Overlay defect locations on product images to see where the same issues tend to appear
- Trend defect frequency and type by line, shift, product, or operator
- Retrieve the full defect history at the serial-number level when needed
Scatter plot visibility over the product
One of the most distinctive capabilities in Visual Inspection is the ability to see where defects are clustering on the product itself — not just how many were found.
When the same defect keeps appearing in the same area, the scatter plot makes that pattern visible. That is the kind of information that leads to root cause conversations about process steps, fixtures, handling, or material conditions — rather than simply re-sorting the same product on the next run.
From recording defects to learning from them
Visual inspection is often one of the last opportunities to catch a visible quality issue before the product moves on. If that inspection process only produces a pass/fail decision, the plant loses a major opportunity to understand recurring quality problems.
When the inspection station captures defect type, defect location, and disposition in a structured way, the team gains more than a record. It gains a way to reduce recurring visual defects, focus on the highest-frequency issues, connect defect patterns to root cause work, and improve repair and reject decisions over time.
This matters most in appearance-critical manufacturing environments — such as automotive — where visible product quality is important and defect location matters as much as defect frequency. But the benefit applies anywhere a team needs to move beyond sorting defective product and start reducing the cause of it.
Connected to the rest of the platform
Visual Inspection questions
- What does the inspector see on screen?
- The inspector sees an image of the product and can use that view to indicate where the defect occurred. The system presents this alongside step-by-step guidance and any relevant reference information for the inspection.
- Can defects be categorized?
- Yes. Visual defects can be organized using categories and sub-categories so reporting stays consistent and useful over time.
- Can we track defects by serial number?
- Yes. Defects can be recorded and reported at the serial-number level, connecting each defect event to the individual product record.
- Can the system support different product views?
- Yes. The module can support viewing the product from different angles — such as top, bottom, front, or side — when the product shape and inspection process require more than one visual perspective.
- Can inspectors decide repair versus reject in the workflow?
- Yes. The inspection workflow can include a disposition step where the inspector records whether the product can be repaired or must be rejected.
- How does the reporting help root-cause analysis?
- By capturing both defect type and defect location — including image-based scatter plot views — the system helps teams see recurring patterns more clearly and investigate why those defects are occurring.
Need quality checks configured to your specific process and compliance requirements?
Every 10in6 deployment includes our team — connecting your equipment, configuring your workflows, and supporting your operation long after go-live.
Stop recording visual defects as isolated events.
See how 10in6 Visual Inspection helps your team capture where defects occur, understand which ones keep coming back, and focus improvement on the issues that matter most.