Adapting Automation Standards: The New Era of Robotic Systems

Welcome to Advanced Automation, a podcast by Calvary Robotics, where you'll find industry leaders and experts sharing their thoughts on the world of automation. Hello, and welcome to Calvary Robotics advancing automation podcast. My name is Joe Gemma, and I will be your host today. We would like to give you and our listeners more insight into our company. So today, we've invited a very special guest, the leader of our organization, Mike Fisher is the president of Calvary Robotics. He also happens to be a a long term friend, so really thrilled to spend a little time with him today to talk about the organization. Mike, before we talk about that, maybe tell our audience a little bit about yourself and your career. Sure. Thanks, Joe, and, pleasure to be here today. I've been in the automation robotics business my entire career. Went to college in the late eighties for a degree in fluid power and robotics, which is really a blended effort on both controls and mechanical engineering, which today they'd refer to as a mechatronic program. During the end of my college days and for the next two years, I worked for a fluid power distributor that also had some tool and die capability. Subsequently, they built smaller assembly systems, and and helped grow it to one of the largest automation houses today, certainly in the small hearts area. Spent twenty three years there in various positions, Was then presented with this opportunity here at Calvary where I've been the last seven years. And really the reasons for coming to Calvary were mainly due to the overall capability, the infrastructure, people, facilities, and the business systems and processes that they had in place here were really world leading. Also, I had a lot of respect for the founder and the management of of the company. Really immediate alignment with what I believed in, and we'd agreed upon the strategic company, its core values, and our objectives that really, you know, have guided us to where we are today in in becoming a world leader in our industries. I Should also add that I have a tremendous respect for the people, you know, talent, and technology. And although it's a challenging industry, it's unlike any other in terms of being and very rewarding. Yep, Mike. It's a really an exciting industry and, as you say, kind of different every day. So thanks for sharing a little bit about your background and, certainly, the company and and the people that we work with and the talent we have. In in fact, maybe expand a little bit because many of our listeners know about the Calvary robotics group. I'm not sure they know that, Calvary as a group has some other parts of our business. And maybe not in too deep too much detail, but tell them a little bit about the other parts of the organization and how that, becomes a value. Sure. Going back, Calvary was formed in the early, nineties by Mark Chaney, who's our owner and CEO of the company. He started as a design engineering firm that served a lot of the local Mark really had a strategic direction. He set out and hired some of the best people that he could find in the industry, having worked with them through the design engineering firm, and then quickly branched out into building of the systems as well as becoming a full service automation company. It began by largely serving the automotive industry, as most automation companies did in their early days because at that time they were the early adopters of automation and robotics. Since that time, diversified into many different markets, incorporated many different leading edge technologies to serve our customers and also establish ourselves as a recognized leader in this space. The value proposition is of Calvary is really based upon, program life cycle management from beginning to end, with a focus on value add, return on investment, and of course customer satisfaction. We're comprised of four business units. That makes us a bit unique and sets us apart from others in terms of our competition. We like to refer to these business units as having distinctive expertise and combined strength. They're very complementary or synergistic in nature to one another, which allows us then to feed business to one another independently or work jointly on programs, which is often the case. We operate out of a four hundred thousand square foot state of the art facility here in Webster, New York, which is a suburb of Rochester. And the four main business units are really the design and build of custom automation systems, of which we use core standard products and platforms. That's really the core engine or driver of the company. That's allowed us to build a very unique skill set and really is the basis for the overall infrastructure of our company. We're vertically integrated throughout all the necessary functions and departments to deliver on our automation solutions with very little of the work going outside the walls of our facility. The next business unit's a repetitive manufacturing or contract manufacturing business unit, which is really designed for multiple builds or scaling of systems where the demand is high and time to market's critical. The work done in that business unit, could be based on our design, a customer's design that we may be value engineered or a straight build to print with an emphasis on many systems, and a production supply chain organization with a focus on procuring or providing any piece of tooling or fabricated component that would be required or necessary for our own systems, our customer systems, as well as we sell directly outside of Calvary, if you will, to customers for their internal needs and requirements. And, we really do this through a network of relationships with a number of companies globally and very disciplined supply chain management. We operate a machine shop here in Rochester as well as have a team in Malaysia to accommodate a low cost sourcing strategy for tooling that we subsequently incorporate into the systems we produce. And the last business unit is our product division called Intune Products. This division's focused really on development and commercialization of product into the marketplace. We use this division to develop not only our own standard products for use in our automation systems, which we'll talk about here a little later, but as well as for the development of innovative products in conjunction with our customers in various industries. We also then have the ability to scale and produce those products for that customer, for ourselves into the marketplace. So this product mentality is really a key initiative for us and imperative to our success and our strategy moving forward. We continue to drive products more and more into the custom space and really need to in order to realize the overall significant benefits of doing so. Mike, thank thanks for sharing that. I think it's, good that people get a better picture of the scope of the organization and and the power of the value of all those, supply organizations that you talked about within the Calvary Group. So now let's talk a little bit about the market, and you talked about some of the market conditions that are and they're changing. And and companies are looking for more, I'll say, adaptability or flexibility. I mean, mass customization, a lot of those things are impacting what the market looks like. So what has Calvary done to address these dynamic changing markets? Yeah. That's a good question, Joe. I also believe that to be a very true statement. If we go back a number of years, this was really, I guess, a nice to have, the flexibility and and modularity scalability, but not necessarily, nor would custom pay, you know, really wanna pay for for having that. The reasons being that they would, you know, typically amortize the equipment, you know, over the lifetime of that product and then just get rid of it. And really, we're just looking for, you know, the lowest cost solution at that point in time to solve that manufacturing challenges. So what's changed is really nowadays with the technology available and at a much more attractive, cost point, it's become the norm and and almost expected today. We validated this through a series of meetings a number of years back with our key customers, in multiple industries where we found that there was a shift in the strategy for automation. Fast changing environments, reduced product life cycles, introduction of product derivatives, also the need for commonality and flexibility were high on the list of importance when they're sourcing systems because typically they went for a high value dedicated system. And then if the market, you know, demands weren't there, they didn't have the ability to adapt quickly to, you know, other products. So, you know, in addition, there's many, many benefits that are significant. So we tend to agree with that strategy and have focused our company on solving those. The focus really on system reuse, redeployment, ability to to gate capital spend with capacity increases quickly and efficiency while both reducing risk and the overall cost of, ownership. Really, this has been the the genesis for the development and implementation of our standard product philosophy or platform initiatives and a focus in terms of our ongoing efforts. It's great you characterize a lot of the benefits of, as we call, I guess, standards and what these three engineered opportunities were present to companies, even in expanding on that, certainly, the ability to install more quickly, get bring them up to, production more quickly because using standard products. So how does Calvary as far as the strategy, how do we see that supporting the market need for standards going forward? Yeah. So if we maybe take a look at, why they're important to kind of, isn't it just playing on what you just said. I think we need to look at that from both an external customer side, as well as an internal or or Calvary standpoint. The external benefits really to the customer, as we mentioned, are use of a proven product, which results in a higher system performance and uptime, reduced risk cost and lead time, flexibility in terms of retooling, reuse or redeployment. Modularity and the ability to scale the systems to adjust to different product derivatives or volumes. Then of course there's the internal benefits to to Calvary, which is really centered around less engineering time, which is very important due to the supply and demand of engineers in our space. Reduced delivery times so we could do more with less. Obviously more cost effective. Less implementation or integration time as you've noticed before, so you can get to market quicker, and better controls of schedule and risk. I could go on and on, but the the point is there are many benefits to both the customers and ourselves. I think you also asked about the strategy to support the market need. Mhmm. Our strategy there, Joe, is really always has been and will be, you know, centered around the continued development and deployment of these platform technology or standards. That's the combination of both mechanical and software related standards that drive value, and we feel set us apart in the industry. We work collaboratively with our customers to solve their challenges through the use of these products and technology. We'll continue to invest and evaluate new technologies through our research and development efforts. And we also look at incorporation of the latest Industry four point zero technologies as they continue to be deployed and have an impact on the future of manufacturing. So, interesting So interesting, Mike, you talked about and maybe for the benefit of our listeners, we wanna elaborate a little bit on some of the terms. You talked about platforms. You talked about, maybe pre engineered systems and maybe give some examples of what a pre engineered system is, what we mean by platforms. But also, importantly, and I think you made a good point. You mentioned software industry four point o. So platforms isn't just a hardware strategy. It's a complete strategy. But maybe you could expand a little bit on what you mean by the platforms for our audience and and our listeners and pre engineered solution. Maybe give an example of what that is. May maybe first, I'll start with, you know, why we call it a pre engineered solution. We call them pre engineered solutions, for a very deliberate reason. You know, at the end of the day, it needs to be a complete solution that is largely pre engineered to be effective and really unlock the value, the real value that we're looking for and our customers are looking for. So this strategy is versus a component, which is only part of the solution. Components aren't good enough anymore. The solution really needs to be at a station, system, or platform level, and the benefits that I spoke about earlier are really realized at that level. If I look at some examples, I can give you a few which represent a range of product and technology. We have large integrated platforms that, and technology. We have large integrated platforms that, assembly platforms or manufacturing platforms that can be based around synchronous, asynchronous, flexible linear motor based material handling systems. These platforms are modular in nature, very flexible, plug and play for different operations and processes, and very adaptable and can really apply to a number of industries and applications. We also have then stand alone or discrete cells like our XL1 and two platforms, which are really Cartesian or SCARA six axis robot based standard modular cells, which can then also be scaled into production systems or operate independently. You also have the benefit of being able to go from development or the lab into production, or go straight to production from the beginning if that's required. And then in addition to these platforms and cells, we also offer plug in components like tray handlers, flex feeders, and other various or ancillary operations that are typically required over and over in production and assembly systems. Interesting. Thanks for expanding a little bit on that, and I think that'll help our our listeners understand a little bit more about what we mean when we use some of the terminology. So how does this work across different industries? Because we, as an organization, are asked to help support a lot of different industries, and we certainly can talk with those about what those are. But how does it work? How do we how do we benefit across different industries that way? Yeah. That's a really good question, Joe. And it's really the viewpoint of the customer in the industry versus the, integrator like, Calvary. We view it as the technology's really industry agnostic. I mean, robots are robots, vision systems are vision systems. We can apply them very easily and move between different industries. Where the learning curve comes in tends to be in the environmental or regulatory compliance. That really becomes the learning curve, not necessarily the technology. So that technology really applies because it's largely flexible in nature, you know, most of them being robot based, incorporating vision and other flexible technologies. They have a plug and play aspect. We can offer different material handling, part processing, feeding methods. So, again, they're very adaptable and versatile that, then can, therefore, be tailored to to most industries. Great. Again, you've expanded quite a bit on the development of standards and and types of standards we do with that. Thank you. Maybe, go back to something we've mentioned a little bit earlier. You know, are there software standards that we work with and we can supply to various markets? If so, how how would how would we benefit from that? How do you explain what those software benefits are if there are standards that we bring to different markets? Yeah. I mean, there's both, as we mentioned, both mechanical, as well as software, standards that are required, in these products and platforms, and they're very critical to the value and the success of the systems. We're constantly looking at and evaluating and incorporating and working with the latest software and applying them to our applications and our products. And as I mentioned before, obviously in today's environment with the adaptation of Industry four point o, it's becoming more and more critical. A focus on not only adapting those technologies, but also making software simpler, more configurable than programmable, if that makes sense. And that's a key, a key element and a key focus of Calvary as well. Agreed. And in fact, I think you've been expanding on that. We've seen more customers looking at digital twin strategies to get a better support of of their equipment on the floor and utilization. Wouldn't you agree? Yeah. Absolutely. And, you know, one of the other areas we're looking very closely at is, you know, and tying in is really remote diagnostics and being able to service and maintain the equipment more quickly and effectively or efficiently. Yeah. And Mike, you touched on something that, wasn't necessarily gonna discuss today, but I think it's a value, proposition that is worth explaining that, Calvary also has a service support component of our organization. So after the fact, we're still part of that relationship with our customers to continue to support them through the life cycle of their product and their process, automation. Yeah. Absolutely, Joe. That's a very critical aspect. A lot of customers aren't as concerned necessarily with where systems or products are necessarily manufactured, but they want the service and support either local or very, very responsive so that they can maintain production and achieve the ROI. So we are set up with a full service group. We incorporate a number of different strategies in terms of servicing our clients, depending on what their needs and requirements and and geographic locations are, and we work with them to to tailor a program and a and a a service, a program that is that that that meets those requirements and keeps them, you know, in production. I I agree. And it's a key component of our organization and success of our relationships and loyalty with our customers. So talking a little bit about the the standards, we talked a lot about it actually, but you early on, you said, you know, one of the engines of the organization is the custom automation. By custom, meaning it's a little bit unique. So how do standards work themselves into, custom automation strategies? Obviously, one of our core strategies there working in the in the custom is is back to the benefits, Joe. So you look at the, the amount of engineering talent needed to do this, the cost, risk, lead time. What we're driving towards is really having seventy five, eighty percent of the system, the base chassis, whether that's standalone cells, whether it's incorporated into a full line, available or pre engineered or pre designed. And a focus on kind of the flexibility then allows us to adapt to different products and industries so that you're really custom tooling a quarter of the system at the end of the day as opposed to seventy five, eighty percent of the system. We wanna reverse that trend so that again, seventy five, eighty exists and you're focusing on the remaining twenty and then they get further value in being able to reuse, redeploy those standards or platforms. So to characterize it, it allows us to be adaptable and flexible to help our customers be adaptable and flexible. I think it's pretty great. Good. Nice message you put there. Okay. So for for the benefit of our listeners, so where are we as an organization? Where are we going forward related to the markets and technology as an organization around these topics we discussed today? Yeah. So that's a good question, Joe. Obviously we focused a lot on the standard products and platforms, and that'll continue to be a mainstay of our organization and strategy and investment moving forward. But we've got also executing to a very deliberate strategy that we've put in place a number of years. And part of that is obviously looking at new and emerging markets and getting ahead of it, so areas like outdoor robotics, whether that's construction, material handling, agriculture. We also wanna diversify and further develop products in fast growing areas, like food and beverage and shipping and logistics, which we're already involved in, but are projected to grow at, you know, record levels here moving forward. We've talked a lot about the Industry four point zero technology and how we incorporate that into our solutions, or those technologies into our solutions. Another key area for us is looking at mobility, which is very hot in the market today, how to adapt intelligent vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and so on, in plants, and also, you know, carrying robots and, to perform different tasks from material handling to assembly and so on. And then another key area is really in the vision guidance and pickings. We're certainly developing and furthering our expertise, as we always have in the robotics space, but the application of vision, whether that's two d, three d vision for areas like bin picking or flexible feeding or adapting to environments, you know, to perform work. And maybe one of the last areas tied into all of these is really a key part of our strategy, Joe, has always been focused on products and partnerships. We've talked a lot about the products, but partnerships is really where we get very close with leading, market leading technology companies in understanding their products and adapting their products into our end solutions. So we look to the market, we have a very key strategy in working very closely with the management and the teams within these companies to incorporate them into our solutions and stay abreast of the latest technologies out there. Take advantage of those. Annette and Mike, that's really a key point. Certainly, our relationships are especially technology partners. And there's certainly been a lot of advancement in technology, around the the point you brought out, mobility and and what that might envision, envision tools. And that's allowed us to be in the new and different markets that traditionally weren't available just because the technology just didn't match the needs for the market. So and and I think we've often said that it's we feel it's our responsibility to stay ahead of those technologies and understand them, investigate them for the benefit of our customers so they can utilize this technology through us to improve their productivity and their production. So, again, thanks for sharing that and giving us a vision. So I and Mike, on behalf of our listeners, I wanna thank you for spending some time with us today and explaining a little bit more about our organization, telling us where we're going and why some of the things we've done pre engineered systems, standard solutions, platforms can be a benefit. So thanks for sharing that. And one last comment maybe you can share with the team. What would you say I mean, our listeners, what would you say is the best way for them to reach out to us if they'd like to know more about Calvary or talk to someone in the group. What's the best way for them to reach out to us? Yeah. First off, Joe, thank you for the time today. And, yeah, the best way to reach out to us, certainly in this day and age, is obviously, you know, you can reach us through looking at the website, which is w w w dot calvaryrobotics dot com. There's a lot of information on there. Also, you can reach us through the main facility here. There's common emails as well as, you know, the phone number of five eight five three four seven six one two seven, which is the main switchboard. So so really electronically or physically, reach out to us. Great. Thank you. I I know our listeners will wanna try to reach out to us and and talk to us about maybe some challenges they have and see if we can help them. And I Mike, again, as a colleague, it's a pleasure being part of this and working with you and helping our customers together and also as a friend. It's great working with you. So thanks for spending some time with us today on the Calvary Robotics advancing automation podcast. And for our listeners, we we appreciate spending time listening to our podcast, and we look forward to the next episode of our podcast. And, hopefully, you'll join us. Thank you all. Great. Thank you, Joe.