Automation Adoption: Why Manufacturers Can’t Survive Without Robotics
Automation has been a long-time buzzword in trade magazines, trade shows, and news stories; but even with “automation” and “robotics” plastered everywhere, why have some manufacturers chosen to not adopt automation? Some erroneous barriers include the perceived expense, the threat to reducing jobs, the amount training, or automation alternatives. There's a lot of factors to consider in our competitive and industrial landscape when choosing to automation adoption. We will look at the advantages of automation in different industries while looking at business and market factors such as automation adoption rates in industries and countries, cost, duties, quality control of outsourcing, competitive landscape, effects of automation on jobs and generational labor fall-off. We will also examine steps to adopt automation and what the real barriers to entry may include, such as types of automation exist for different applications, capital expenditure and return on investment, training requirements and service and maintenance requirements.
Josh Leath - Yaskawa Motoman
Adapting Manufacturing Processes for Remote Work During Market Disruptions
Can your facility easily adapt operations when an external threat disrupts daily workflow? As we know, it has been a year of challenges for the global supply chain. While having a global economy has its advantages, we must be careful in how we facilitate production. Not only must we be careful of outsourcing too many products, but manufacturers must also be prepared to adapt their daily workflows to allow for remote workers to continue working without major disruptions in communication and operations. In times of social distancing, digital factories can continue producing with programmers and production managers monitoring the shop floor from their home computer and sending work instructions to those still operating machines. Learn how your shop can begin, or continue, your journey in manufacturing resiliency through technology by hearing best practices and the latest tools to make this a reality.
Kevin Must - Lantek Systems, Inc.