Industrial automation is not just for the GM’s and GE’s anymore, factories are becoming smarter, faster, and more connected. In the past automation meant big bucks; items like microcontrollers, motion components and robotics where all hard to use and not easy to maintain. But with the technology transformation of the past decade, these components are now low cost, easy to maintain, and offer better control and stability than ever before.  Below are some common questions when it comes to automation and whether it fits your manufacturing goals.

I recently finished reading Richard Branson's book "Like a Virgin; Secrets they don't teach you in business school". A great book, and Branson's outlooks on business and life are worth taking note of. One chapter in particular is called "They Say; Third Person Problems" and its a very good observation about what we typically see in business, and what separates the great company from the not so great.

There are literally hundreds of metrics that business leaders can use to run their business today. Some are very valuable, some not so much. For Engineering, think of an engineer as a continually developing employee who will take years, if not decades, to become fully trained and proficient in a field of study. So the focus of metrics should not only be in performing a task on time and within budget, but also developing said engineer through training and daily challenges.

It’s amazing to me how many organizations have engineers and engineering departments that don’t contribute to the bottom line. In fact when I discuss Engineering with Owners/CEO’s they think of it as more a necessary cost than a profit center. Engineers should bring great value to your organization through continuous product and service improvement. Not that you can expect this to happen without investing dollars in training and guidance, just like any other department, engineers need continued education. But trained right and with the right environment, an engineer can have an exponential effect on benefiting products, services, and generating more profit. At the end of this article you will find some tips on improving your engineering staff if you’re not getting these results, and make no mistake, you should be.

We had done it. After months of back-and-forth on specifications, cycle time discussions, part variability analysis, all the pieces...we'd just wrapped up a massive $1.5 million automation proposal. The scope was ambitious, the cycle time lightning-fast, and the application undeniably intricate – think a ballet of robotic arms delicately placing tiny tubes. We were confident in our…