Chicago, Illinois - The manufacturing automation industry is a large, complex, multi-billion-dollar entity. It features multiple layers of suppliers, researchers, developers, providers, and customers. Likewise, the range of problem types and possible solutions is wide and vast and often confusing to navigate.
Many things contribute to the complexity of manufacturing automation and there is no “one size fits all” solution when analyzing a problem. Much like approaching your personal health, whether it’s proactively establishing a healthy lifestyle or diagnosing a chronic problem, there are thousands of providers with thousands of solutions and it can be hard to know what is right for your situation.
When considering automation, approach it as carefully and inquisitively as though you’re addressing your personal health. The path is revealing and can help keep you out of trouble. For example:
- Am I in a position to be proactive and establish a healthy lifestyle or am I sick and need to figure out what’s wrong?
- Are you setting up a greenfield facility for a new production line or trying to fix a problem within an established manufacturing process? The nature of your starting point makes a big difference.
- Do you have time to carefully plan a strategic path forward or do you need to stop the bleeding before a crisis occurs?
- Do I need a general practitioner or a specialist?
- Will any general purpose machine builder do or do you need a company that specializes in dispensing or high-speed, small part assembly?
- How complex is your problem? Many integrators can handle a wide range of straight forward applications but many integrators have evolved into specialists in specific applications such as welding, dispensing, packaging, etc.
- Where does your application fall on that spectrum?
- Should I really ask my doctor if I need the purple pill because I saw a commercial on TV? Should you consider buying one of those friendly, inexpensive robots because you saw one at a tradeshow? There are many suppliers advertising their products as the solution to your problem.
- Has your problem been diagnosed to the point where a specific solution can even be defined? Don’t let the tail wag the dog.
- Am I hoping to find a quick-fix remedy and neglecting to look at the real underlying causes of my poor health? Are we looking to automate something because it seems easier than fixing our current bad practices?
A diet pill won’t make you lose weight if you refuse to eat healthy and exercise just like an automated vision inspection repair loop won’t improve product quality if you don’t trace back to determine and fix the root cause errors. This presentation digs into a variety of diagnosing questions and illustrates specific examples of good and bad automation initiatives and outcomes.
About the speaker
Jordan leads AMT’s effort to introduce automation into new markets. He is a 30 year veteran in the industrial automation world with a background in industrial robotics, machine vision, and electronics assembly. Jordan has managed in several international companies and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the State University of New York, Binghamton.