Apparently, manufacturers see the value of vision systems much more clearly now. For instance, it took vision supplier Cognex (www.cognex.com) 18 years to sell its first 100,000 units. And in the four years since, it sold another 100,000 units. According to company CEO, chairman and founder, Dr. Robert Shillman, that acceleration is due to vision's ability to improve productivity, lower costs and assure quality.

The 200,000^th unit is now part a major automotive transmission production line. It automatically reads two-dimensional bar codes marked directly on the transmissions as part of the production tracking process.