My guest for this episode is Jeff Werner from Ethos Automation based in Brantford, ON. Today we are going to talk about safety: robot safety and safety on complex machines.

Jeff is no stranger to the automation industry and machine building for capital equipment industry. Jeff has worked with many large systems integrators as team lead in project management, he has held roles such as vice president and general manager and as VP and general manager for a packaging automation company. Welcome to the podcast Jeff.

Questions

Tell me a bit about Ethos Automation, Jeff

Jeff, When we first discussed this as a topic for a webinar I thought it was a really good idea. Then I started thinking about all the issues. It is not just robots. Robot safety is fairly well documented and it is pretty easy to get unto speed on robot safety, there are conferences, lots of experts, lots of opportunity

But robots are just part of the conversation. When you are talking about custom automation, you have so many players and technologies: Indexers, conveyors, welders, lasers, printers, feeders

You have worked for some great machine builders Jeff, where are you seeing some of the challenges in the automation industry regarding safety?

You have probably seen some errors in approaches to safety in many of your factory tours ?

A manufacturer may only build a few automation systems in a few years so they are not really experts in safety. What steps can end customers take to improve safety of their machines?

How can machine builders approach safety differently?

Whose responsibility is machine safety: Project Managers, Mechanical designers, applications engineers

Should I ask about unbiased third party experts?

What about machines going to far away places? Mexico for example?

Did we forget to talk about anything?

When you are not automating, integrating and keeping workers safe, what do you like to do, hobbies?

How can people get a hold of you?

Enjoy the podcast. Thanks for subscribing, thanks for listening.

Regards,

Jim

Jim Beretta

You can find out more about Ethos Automation here. To reach out to Jeff Werner, you can find his LinkedIn here.

Thanks to our partner and sponsor: A3 The Association for Advancing Automation and Ehrhardt Automation.

If you would like to get involved with The Robot Industry Podcast, would like to become a guest or nominate someone, you can find me, Jim Beretta on LinkedIn or send me an email to therobotindustry at gmail dot com, no spaces.

Ehrhardt Automation builds and commissions robotic turnkey automated solutions for their worldwide clients. With over 80 years of precision manufacturing they understand the complex world of automated manufacturing, project management, supply chain and delivering world-class custom automation on-time and on-budget. Contact one of their sales engineers to see what Ehrhardt can build for you at [email protected]

Keywords and terms for this podcast: Safety, Ethosautomation.com, The Robot Industry Podcast, Ehrhardt Automation Systems