REAL-WORLD SUCCESS

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Implications for
Manufacturing Case Study

Introduction

OCR can play a pivotal role in most industries and is incredibly impactful within manufacturing, where efficient data management and analysis are paramount. Key enhancements of OCR within manufacturing services may include:

  • Increased Efficiency: OCR streamlines laborious data entry tasks, supercharging your processes and shortening production cycles.
  • Enhanced Accuracy and Compliance: OCR extracts vital data with pinpoint precision, ensuring rock-solid documentation accuracy.
  • Improved Inventory Management: Say hello to real-time inventory visibility and seamless data updates with OCR. 

In this brief case study, we will explore our client's challenges and results from a recent project, showcasing OCR's impact.

Problem/Goal

The client had a vast collection of historical records originally processed using now outdated 2005 OCR technology. Facing difficulties with text recognition quality, which significantly impacted the accuracy and accessibility of their archives, they sought experts' assistance. Their goal was to enhance the OCR quality while reducing the processing time and cost, which were quite high.

Solution

Our team at StandardData chose to implement an advanced, open-source OCR model, drastically improving the text recognition quality. This model effectively transformed previously unreadable records into clear, searchable text. Additionally, using open-source OCR provided more flexibility than compared to a proprietary model that may become obsolete in the near future. We migrated their system to Amazon Web Services (AWS) to improve processing efficiency, utilizing a serverless architecture. This allowed us to distribute the processing across hundreds and even thousands of machines, working in parallel, which significantly accelerated the OCR process.

Overall, OCR technology in manufacturing contributes to increased efficiency, accuracy, and compliance while reducing manual labor and operational costs. Its integration with other technologies such as machine vision and automation further enhances its utility in modern manufacturing environments.

Results

10X improvement in OCR quality:
Successfully converted previously unreadable records into fully legible text.
94% reduction in cost:
Reduced from $300 per batch to $20 per batch of records.
99% speed improvement:
Improved batch processing time from 3 weeks to 1 hour.