In car final assembly, wheel sets (including spares) with the correct combination of tires and rims must be assigned to the correct vehicle on the assembly line at precisely the right time and in the right sequence. This process is critical for the safety of the finished vehicle and must therefore be checked and documented. Both the rim and tire are fitted with a barcode label for identification.

The arbitrarily oriented barcode on the rim is read using the omnidirectional barcode reader system OPS 290. The system comprises two barcode scanners CLV 490 equipped with autofocus and oscillating mirrors as well as an omni tracking controller OTC. The two crossed reading lines of the barcode scanners enable the arbitrarily oriented rims to be identified using the barcode.

A read station is integrated into the assembly and supply process prior to fitting the tire, prior to balancing and the provision of the rims and tires to vehicle final assembly. The data read are transferred to the upper level controller for the correct supply of the wheel set to the vehicle as well as for documentation.

The OPS 290 helps eliminate costly errors related to the misallocation of a wheel set to a finished car. The OPS 290 also makes it possible to fully documentation the wheel assembly and mounting process in the final assembly.