Manufacturing Matters

At the A3 Business Forum in Orlando last week, Manufacturing Matters host Winn Hardin met with representatives from PBC Linear and Applied Cobotics. PBC Linear President David Deiter and VP of sales Tim Stellmacher, along with Director of Applied Cobotics Beau Wileman, talk about the upcoming PBC Linear 40th anniversary celebration, the US made small diameter ball screw line, and the new Cobot Feeder from Applied Cobotics, along with the company’s existing Simplicity bearing product line and range of Hevi-Rail products. If you’re heading to the SLAS show in San Diego at the end of February, stop by Booth 2212 and see for yourself!

Support the show

Brent Barcey, VP of Sales & Business Development at Plus One Robotics, joins the Manufacturing Matters podcast to discuss the latest innovations in robotic handling applications on the factory floor. Plus One Robotics takes a novel approach to random mixed depalletization and high-speed parcel induction and makes ease-of-use a top priority. This includes properly building the model upfront to accommodate a variety of label conditions.  Another example is Yonder, Plus One Robotics’ “human in the loop” software suite that trains its crew chiefs as remote supervisors who monitor and direct robotic work from afar to keep facilities operational 24/7. Barcey also discusses robotics in logistics and the idea of people acclimating to the idea of robots handling packages 

Support the show

Kamel Saidi, an engineer within the Intelligent Systems Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) joins David Dechow, Consulting Director of Vision Technology and Education at TECH B2B Marketing in this episode of Manufacturing Matters. NIST works with industry and academia to create critical measurement solutions and helps develop standards with ASTM International to improve manufacturing processes through advanced technology. For example, the ASTM Committee E57 on 3D Imaging Systems (including the subcommittee on Industrial Machine Vision Systems) is creating standards to evaluate 3D imaging’s performance in manufacturing applications, including depth error, depth resolution, and bin picking. Saidi also discusses how teams of researchers working hands-on with robots and vision systems benefits the resulting standards – and the manufacturers who use them.

Support the show

Heiko Eisele, president of MVTec, LLC speaks with Winn on the set of Manufacturing Matters at the 2022 Vision Show in Boston. MVTech is a well-known international producer of machine vision software. By supplying cutting-edge technologies like 3D vision, deep learning, and embedded vision, MVTec products enable innovative automation solutions for the Industrial Internet of Things and are employed in all demanding imaging applications.

Support the show

Winn talks with Josh Cloer, the Director of Sales for Mujin. Mujin is a robotics technology company that is changing the way that robots are programmed. Instead of programming the waypoints and the workflows like a human programmer would, Mujin is creating autonomous robots. They’re modeling the environment, telling the system about what the environment looks like, what the surroundings are, what the type of application is, what type of gripper and what type of robot, and ultimately allowing it to make decisions about how to solve the problem within the application.

Support the show

On the set of Manufacturing Matters at the Autonomous Mobile Robotics and Logistics Conference, located at the Vision show in Boston, Winn talks to Patty Katsaros. Patty is the Director of Marketing Operations at Locust Robotics. Locus Robotics is an automation solutions provider. They help eCommerce companies and third-party logistics companies increase their productivity with robotics automation solutions. Locus Robotics helps companies with warehouse logistics solutions by improving the productivity of their picking operations.

Support the show

Greg Hollows, VP of product strategy and new product development at Edmund Optics, visits Manufacturing Matters to discuss the future of the optics and lighting markets. Machine vision component suppliers are capitalizing on COVID-era research and development to create solutions – everything from standard products to turnkey systems – that bring together new sensor and optics technologies. Hollows says that customers also are expecting cameras that offer lighter weight, larger sensor sizes, extended wavelengths, ruggedization, and repeatability. Meanwhile, autonomous technology will continue its refinement outside the warehouse, where restaurants are testing self-driving delivery systems, and agriculture is increasing its use of crop-monitoring drones and autonomous tractors that use multiple cameras for 360° obstacle detection.

Support the show

Welcome to Manufacturing Matters, a new podcast from TECH B2B that takes an in-depth look at automation technologies and their critical role in the manufacturing industry. Our series will reveal how companies are adopting advanced automation technologies such as robotics, AI and deep learning, and embedded vision to address the ongoing labor shortage, as well as increase productivity; enhance efficiency; and, ultimately, drive revenue. For more than two decades, the writers, editors, and marketing professionals behind TECH B2B have been reporting on the important trends informing the manufacturing technology space. Our expertise will help your business cut through the hype prevalent in this sector to bring you the reality of how advanced automation technologies offer integrated, advanced solutions that add value for you and your customers.

Support the show