Systems and methods for detecting and rejecting defective absorbent articles from a converting line

A method for rejecting defective absorbent products from a web converting manufacturing process, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a communication network;
• connecting a sensor to a remote I/O station and connecting the remote I/O station to the network, the remote I/O station including a sensor clock;
• connecting a controller with the communication network, the controller including a controller clock;
• synchronizing the sensor clock with the controller clock such that the reported time of the controller clock and the sensor clock can be correlated;
• advancing a substrate in a machine direction through a converting process;
• virtually segmenting the substrate into a plurality of virtual segments;
• sequentially adding component parts to the substrate;
• inspecting the substrate and component parts with the sensor;
• communicating inspection parameters from the sensor to the communication network;
• assigning a timestamp to each inspection parameter, each timestamp based on the sensor clock;
• receiving the inspection parameters and corresponding timestamps from the communication network into the controller;
• correlating each inspection parameter with one virtual segment based on the timestamp of the inspection parameter;
• identifying defects in virtual segments based on the inspection parameters;
• cutting the substrate with component parts added thereto into discrete absorbent articles;
• and
• rejecting absorbent articles that correspond with virtual segments with identified defects.