Advanced Automation by Calvary Robotics

It’s not often one spends their entire career in a single industry. For Mike Fisher, President at Calvary Automation, there’s no other place he’s quite as comfortable than automation and robotics.

With dynamic changing markets at play in the robotics and automation industry, Calvary Automation, like other organizations, has its share of challenges. Still, Fisher believes they are more than up to the task.

“There’s a shift in the strategy for automation,” Fisher said. “Fast-changing environments, reduced product lifecycles, the introduction of product derivatives and the need for commonality and flexibility are high on the list of importance when sourcing systems.”

When considering a product offering, Fisher said Calvary looks at both the external and internal benefits. The customer wants that flexibility and usability to get the best performance at the optimal cost. Internally, a streamlined system means less engineering time.

“Our strategy to support the market need centered around the continued development and deployment of these platform technologies or standards,” Fisher said. “That’s the combination of both mechanical and software-related standards that drive value, which we feel sets us apart in the industry.”

Robotic system standards are not mechanical only. There are also software standards to consider.

“We’re constantly looking at evaluating, incorporating and working with the latest software and applying them to our applications and our products,” Fisher said. “Obviously, in today’s environment with the adaptation of industry 4.0, it’s becoming more and more critical to focus not only on adapting those technologies, but also [to make] the software simpler and more configurable than programable.”

Robotics and automation were already on the uptick heading into 2020, but COVID-19 has spurred even more people to look into innovation.

Education is a big part of the job for Jeff Burnstein, President of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), who said the pandemic has made businesses get curious about what robots might be able to do for them.

“I think the why is pretty clear. The pandemic has revealed to us that there are some issues here we’re not prepared for,” he said. “The fact you can’t bring people into work, that’s a real problem for keeping the businesses up and running. Automation can help in that regard. Can automation reduce the number of touches on products so we don’t spread the virus? Can collaborative robots help separate people that are able to come to work? There’s a lot of eyes being opened here about how to keep your company up and running during a situation like this.”

Those topics and many more were discussed by the more than six dozen speakers who conducted events during A3’s ambitious Robotics Week, with Calvary Robotics Global Vice President Joe Gemma one of many distinguished guests taking part.

The organization will continue to host events to provide education to those in the industry for as long as it needs, Burnstein said, even when it’s able to return to traditional in-person events. That’s thanks to the increased number of voices from around the world the virtual format allowed.