Podcast: The ROI of automation — Redefining success with advanced manufacturing technologies

Steve Strong is CEO at Concept Systems Inc. Steve has been in the industry for more than 18 years and focuses on leveraging systems engineering, digital thread methodology, and model-based engineering (MBE) to ensure safe and efficient system behaviors. Ben Kurth is director of engineering at Applied Manufacturing Technologies (AMT). With more than 14 years of experience, Ben has worked in the food packaging, automotive, medical, aerospace, metrology and end of line packaging and palletizing industries. Steve and Ben recently spoke with Scott Achelpohl, managing editor at Smart Industry, about industrial automation and which products bring about real return on investment. 

Below is an excerpt from the podcast:

SI: Steve, let’s dive in. When we spoke in the run up to the podcast, you said Concept Systems does complex technology projects, vision systems included. Can you describe these projects, and can you elaborate on your statement that your company does work that others might struggle to find solutions for? 

SS: Manufacturing technology, automation technology, is such a broad scope that it can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. It can mean a simple control system, a conveyor with a motor on it, or a simple PLC and an interface on the front end. And on the other end of the spectrum, it could be a coordinated multi-robot, high-precision work cell doing work in hazardous environments. The breath of the technology that we implement on a day-to-day basis comes from a lot of different directions. So, where Concept has differentiated itself and where we feel the value we bring to the table is in that breath of experience and in our ability to solve problems.

I don't want to say that others aren't up to that challenge, but you go to an OEM, you go to a machine builder that's very niche or has an experience in a very narrow space, and if the equipment that they produce or if the systems that they are capable of don’t do what you need them to do, sometimes that's where the story ends. With Concept Systems, we're excited about those challenges. We feel our experience that we bring to the table means that, in the vast majority of cases, it doesn't really matter what industry you're in or which market we are playing in. We can bring our engineering talent and our acumen to the table and solve a problem, regardless of whether it's a rocket ship, an airplane, or a French fry plant in middle America.

SI: Ben, when we spoke earlier, you said that AMT does a lot of work in vision systems. I read a little bit about them, and for our audience, vision systems automation is also known as machine vision. It uses cameras and sensors to inspect products and materials in real time. This technology can be used in manufacturing and packaging to improve quality and productivity. Ben, you also said that automation is about more than body replacement. Can you elaborate on that?

BK: Let's start on the first point with machine vision. What we've seen in the technology itself over the last, let's say, 10 years is not only ease of use, but a greater focus on just overall machine and ultimately vision performance. Again, you look at 10 years ago, and the products and the parts that robots interacted with had to be fixtured and held in place in a super repeatable location because that's what robots were designed for. A repeated task, monotonous, dangerous, dull, dirty environment. And with all of these advancements in machine vision, it just allows a non-repeatable part to be in a non-repeatable location, and you're adjusting your robot positions on the fly. We do a lot in the packaging and palletizing industry, so we're dealing a lot with AI-generated padding for building pallets of products. A lot of people are trying to do mixed pallet skew products for distribution centers and things like that. So again, you talk about the advancements in not just technology that consumers are used to on a day-to-day basis, but all those technologies are being brought into the robot and automation space. It's allowing for that general “non-precise stuff” to be now precise with robots and vision. 

Now, when you talk about how automation is more than just body replacement, it kind of goes back to the title of the overall podcast itself and about bringing real ROI. A lot of our customers, and I'm sure, Steve, you're seeing this a lot, plants and facilities that we go and talk to, they're having a hard time just making their product because they can't even get people to show up to work. When you talk about ROI, a lot of what we're seeing is the ROI is calculated and makes up for itself just on the ability to keep your plant running and producing. So again, you talk about five or 10 years ago, a lot of it was “How can I move a person to do a higher-level task in my facility?” So now, I don't have a body picking up a box and putting it down or moving a part from A to B. I can have a robot do that. And headcount reduction was the biggest thing. Nowadays, there's a whole lot more that goes into that ROI calculation than just headcount reduction.