b'Lead AngleAUTOMATION OBSERVATIONSC raig Zoberis, founder and president ofof this issue. And thats as true for shops new to Fusion OEM/RoboJob-USA in Burr Ridge,automation as it is for those looking into more Illinois, welcomed about 30 industry professionalsadvanced solutions, such as cellular machining. to an open house at his facility in late July toStandard automation packages are cost-effective discuss how automation could help shops gain aand increase throughput, said Zachary S. Spencer, competitive edge now and remain competitive inautomation manager of robotics for Methods the future. Machine Tools Inc. in Sudbury, Massachusetts.He also dispelled the notion that automationWhats the main difference between the two is still synonymous with replacing humans withtypes of aforementioned customers? Those that robots. Fusion purchased and installed robots tohave robots and horizontal pallet pool machine help retain its employees, not replace them, hetools, for example, understand the productivity-told the group. boosting benefits that automated work cells In short, Zoberis explained, employees shouldprovidethey dont need to be convinced, spend more time on creative, problem-solvingSpencer explained. Those that are new to tasks while robots handle the tedious, repetitiveautomation, however, need persuasion.work of loading and unloading machines. ByTheyre not used to setting up a machine and removing tedious tasks from employees on thewalking away from it, he said. Everybody is shop floor, the theory goes, employee retentionalways a little bit afraid of hitting that green go improves. button for the first time. Its really just a comfort That approach has become exponentiallylevel with having a yellow robot load and unload more important given that U.S. manufacturers saya machine rather than having a person standing finding the right talent is now 36% harder than itin front of it.was in 2018, even though the unemployment rateFor one high-mix, low-volume application, has nearly doubled since. That finding comesMethods Machine Tools reported that it worked from a recent study of more than 800 U.S.-basedwith diamond tool manufacturer CDP Diamond manufacturing leaders conducted by professionalProducts Inc. in Livonia, Michigan, to design, services company Deloitte and MHI, a U.S.-basedcreate, test and integrate a custom turnkey material handling industry association. automation cell composed of a Fanuc CRX cobot, Interestingly, the study also found that the toptwo Fanuc C600iA Robocuts and an infeed/two consequences of not being able to fill jobsoutfeed system.were the inability to increase revenue growthThe automation cell, which runs unattended (82%) and maintain production levels to satisfyon nights and weekends, reportedly increased demand (81%). productivity by 75% on the Robocuts.Left unabated, the study concluded,With productivity gains like that, adopting the manufacturing skills gapwhich is nowautomation should be a bit more palatable. And anticipated to leave 2.1 million jobs unfilled byas Fusion learned, implementing automation will 2030could cost the U.S. economy as much ashelp shops address the workforce skills gap by $1 trillion. helping shops retain employees.CTESome good news was offered in a separate study, the 2021 MHI Annual Industry Report, which found that 73% of surveyed manufacturersabout the author either have already adopted automation or plan to do so in the next five years. Dennis Spaeth is CEO and pub-Thats hopeful, considering that automationlisher of CTE. Contact him at 847-can lead to significant productivity gains, as CTE714-0176 or [email protected] Alan Richter reports on Page 28com.4SEPTEMBER 2021LeadAngle.indd 4 8/18/21 10:25 AM'