Manufacturing Matters

Systems integrators can become victims of their own success. In these cases, remote support becomes a much more viable and cost-efficient option.

Some systems integrators can become victims of their own success. When integrators deploy many systems and the crew that built the cells don't have the bandwidth to travel and see all these customers and can’t staff up massive service departments – it can become an issue. Companies looking for a more cost-effective means of keeping customers happy while also building new cells now have options, according to Fredrik Rydén, CEO of Olis Robotics. In this episode of Manufacturing Matters, Rydén joined TECH B2B Marketing’s Jimmy Carroll to discuss the company’s unique service within the industrial automation space, which is a remote monitoring system that runs next to a robot system, not only monitoring it 24/7 and catching, recording, and logging faults, but also enabling remote control and teleoperation of the system.

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By some measures, the production of optics and photonics core components is $400 billion a year market now, and the technology’s downstream value far exceeds that figure — particularly when calculating in new developments like photonic integrated circuits (PICs). But will photonics ever challenge the value of electronics? Or is it more of an analog to electronics’ early days? Or is photonics simply one of the electronics industry’s more interesting corners?
Optica’s senior industry advisor, Dr. Tom Hausken, joins TECH B2B Marketing’s Dan McCarthy in this episode of Manufacturing Matters to discuss this and other big questions about photonic trends and technology.

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If you're selling a limited number of products over the course of Q1-Q3, and then suddenly you have this incredible spike in demand with peak season, that variability doesn't lend itself to sort of traditional forms of automation.

The world is changing, day to day, week to week, and what you are selling today may not be what you are selling tomorrow. In addition, consumer e-commerce demands can shift drastically – whether it’s the pandemic, the labor shortage, or seasonal spikes – different types of automation technologies are required to automate modern day warehouses, said Al Dekin, Chief Revenue Officer and Co-Founder of Locus Robotics. In this episode of Manufacturing Matters, Dekin and his colleague Vered Tomlak joined TECH B2B Marketing’s Jimmy Carroll to discuss an extensive range of automation topics, including advancements in AMRs and AI, the humanoid vs. AMR debate, and how companies can handle the automation demand during peak season. In addition, the discussion covers the approach Locus takes with understanding customer needs, some forthcoming technology announcements, the company’s recent milestone of achieving 4 billion successful robot picks, and more.

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Whether it’s in retail, robotics, or quality inspection, our customers today are finding ways to leverage AI to merge multiple different components at once instead of having a single line for one component.

While the attention of the masses may gravitate toward robots and AI, machine vision remains an indispensable and increasingly vital technology for businesses of all types around the world. In this episode of Manufacturing Matters, Jason Covar and Jeremy Bergh of The Imaging Source joined TECH B2B Marketing’s Winn Hardin and Jimmy Carroll to discuss a range of different machine vision topics, including the advancement of edge computing and edge AI, the difference between computer vision and machine vision, and the somewhat nebulous realm of embedded vision. Additional topics include cybersecurity, digital twins, the complementary role of AI within machine vision, and more.

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Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) technology is sparking transformations in applications as diverse as LiDAR systems, agri-food, and hyperscale data centers. But manufacturing PICs at scale demands a level of complexity beyond the scope of any single company. It will take an ecosystem. That is the principle behind PhotonDelta’s alliance of materials foundries, PIC designers, chip packaging firms, and other technology partners working together to fulfill the promise of PICs technology. PhotonDelta’s Eelko Brinkoff and Jorn Smeets join Dan McCarthy on this episode of Manufacturing Matters to explore the revolutionary potential and practical challenges of bringing PICs to market.

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Whether you’re programming robots, working in a clean room environment or a dirty steel mill, people working in manufacturing jobs can make a fantastic living and should be proud.

Industrial cables are the silent technology that keeps the PLC connected to the HMI and the robot connected to the controller. In some ways, the only time that people think of cables is when there is a problem with one, according to Jay Swank, Business Development Manager – North America, Lynxeo. In this episode of Manufacturing Matters, Swank joined TECH B2B Marketing’s Jimmy Carroll to talk about a range of different topics, including attracting more talent to manufacturing jobs today – despite the proliferation of automation technologies – as well as the latest trends in robots, AI, and humanoids.

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Customers always said to us, we can't find individuals to work on second shift or third shift. We need automation. So, the game changed for us as a company

In this episode of Manufacturing Matters, Nino LaDuca, CEO, Shape Technologies and Simon Kenworthy, Global President, Shape Process Automation joined TECH B2B Marketing’s Winn Hardin to talk about the global economy and the state of manufacturing across different verticals. These included automotive and electric vehicle manufacturing, food processing, life sciences, and more. The group also discussed global automation adoption trends and how advancements in technologies like robots and AI are transforming certain industrial processes in areas such as aerospace and logistics. Additional topics included global collaborative robot trends, waterjet technologies, and Shape’s growing need for high-end business development talent. 

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Sometimes the gap separating conventional optics from advanced high-precision performance is only an angstrom thick.

Even cutting-edge optics don’t always cut it for the most demanding applications in imaging, laser systems, LiDAR, and augmented/virtual reality gear. Accucoat’s Patrick Iulianello joins TECH B2B Marketing’s Winn Hardin and Dan McCarthy in this episode to discuss how advanced optical coatings can minimize reflection, maximize transmission, optimize durability, and enhance other performance features of optical elements — from spherical optics to elements with more complex geometries. Iulianello also shares which end-markets are driving development of new coating techniques to solve emerging design challenges. 

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Manufacturers rapidly address new challenges with AI-enabled vision sensors and simplified calibration for robotic applications. 

In this episode of Manufacturing Matters, SensoPart’s head of applications engineering, Alex Rudolph, joins TECH B2B Marketing’s Winn Hardin and John Lewis to discuss the latest in machine vision technology. ​They discuss SensoPart’s unique offerings in the industrial automation sector, particularly focusing on the integration of AI into vision sensors, its applications in quality control, and the evolving landscape of robotics.​ The conversation highlights SensoPart’s commitment to simplifying machine vision processes and enhancing user experience through innovative calibration methods and adaptable technology.

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In this special robotics panel discussion episode of the Manufacturing Matters podcast, Juan Aparicio (Reshape Automation), Josh Cloer (Mujin), SK Gupta (GrayMatter Robotics), and Suzy Teele (ARM Institute) join TECH B2B Marketing’s Winn Hardin and Jimmy Carroll to discuss all things current and trending in robotics and industrial automation. Topics include ongoing labor shortage woes, AI applicability in robotics, a rise in application-specific robot systems, and global robot trends and figures. Additional topics include AMRs and cobots working in tandem, humanoid robots, robot adoption in small-to-medium enterprises, and much more.

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