This BCG article Competing in the Age of Artificial Intelligence does an excellent job of highlighting the need for companies to rethink business processes and employment models to take advantage of the opportunities presented by AI. As the authors note "Winning strategies put a premium on agility, flexible employment, and continual training and education. AI-focused companies rarely have an army of traditional employees on their payroll."

Quality Inspection has never been easier or more affordable

Cognex's In-Sight 2000 vision sensor is perfect for simple error proofing applications and for jobs where a typical vision system may be more than necessary. Combining the power of the higher level Insight cameras with the ease of use and affordability of the more simple vision sensors makes any pass/fail inspection job easier than ever.

Introduction to the capabilities of the Insight 2000

Field changeable lighting and standard lens options ensures a quick adaptation to any specific job or industrial environment. Along with being easy to setup, the EasyBuilder software allows any user to connect the system and access a number of powerful In-Sight vision tools with a quick and intuitive setup.

If you are interested in learning a little more about the power of the Cognex In-Sight 2000 or would like to see a demonstration in person feel free to reach out to us directly!

Thank you for reading/watching,

Brett Concannon

Gibson Engineering Co., Inc

www.gibsonengineering.com

I am not a coffee drinker but I found the tips in this article to be very helpful. That cup of coffee can really calm your nerves, and make your interview feel like a really conversation rather than an interrogation session. The cup gives you an "excuse" to breath, and think before you answer you questions, and create a better flow for the question and answer process.

Drink That Coffee in Your Interview. Slowly.

I can’t count the number of times that a candidate walks in to an interview with us, asks for a coffee and then doesn’t touch it…. I understand that they are nervous and that they have probably had a couple of coffees already, but I think that you can tell a lot about the candidates who leave a full cup of cold coffee as their legacy.

  Imagine what potential employers might think.

  You might think that this is a trivial matter, but in the hour that you have to create an impression with your potential future employer, you can use that coffee in a number of strategic ways. Left untouched, it is an opportunity wasted.

Firstly, and most obviously, an undrunk cup of coffee might show that you are afraid to speak your mind. You might have not drunk it because you were nervous, but from the point of view of the employer, maybe you don’t even like coffee, maybe you said “yes, please” when you actually would have preferred water. When your words don’t match up with your actions, the smallest disconnect can bring your authenticity into question.

  Secondly, the coffee is a great prop to slow things down a little. If your communication style is pensive and relaxed, you will encourage your interviewer to mirror your behaviour. When they ask a question, it is the most natural thing in the world to take a moment to think, make a “hmmmm” noise, take a (silent) sip of coffee and then launch into your amazing answer. No one wants to be dominated by a machine-gun-like answer. The more natural pauses, the better. Coffee (or drinking any other drink) helps to create these natural pauses. If you do this, the interviewer will feel able to do the same. It will only be good for the candidate if the interviewer takes their time to think about the next question.

  Thirdly, coffee keeps you awake. Yes, really, it does that. Every interview is energy sapping, and it is often the nervous hours that you have spent before the interview that take their toll about 45 minutes in. Don’t gulp down the coffee straight away, ration it, and you will have a caffeine-filled shot of energy through your interview. On the other, hand, don’t finish it too early as you may get asked if you want another one, and you don’t want the interviewer focussing that! 

  Lastly, coffee (or any other drink) helps to give the feel of a normal conversation. You want the interviewer to feel like you are already one of the team, so being relaxed enough to ask for a drink (and drinking it) is a great way of establishing that easy going rapport.

  It may sound silly, but how you act with your coffee could help you to get your next job. 

  It is a crucial weapon in any job seeker’s toolkit. You might think I’m joking? I’m not.

 Article published by: Jayne Coles

Drink That Coffee in Your Interview. Slowly

What is Machine Vision? How can we use it? How can it benefit the Manufacturing Workforce of Tomorrow?

Every day, the manufacturing world (which we all live in) is improving, new technology hits the market and provides an indefinite level of potential for those who choose to use it. Through hard work and constant innovation this new technology is refined and improved so much that it lays the groundwork for the jobs that our children will be applying for in the future.

Among today's most advanced manufacturing technologies is Machine Vision, a topic that has been refined and improved by companies like Cognex since the end of the 20th century.

Bottle Inspection

What is Machine Vision?

To begin, we will start by defining what machine vision is:

Machine Vision is the use of devices for optical non-contact sensing to automatically receive and interpret an image of a real scene in order to obtain information and/or control machines or processes.

-The Society of Manufacturing Engineers

In other words, Machine vision is the use of cameras in the workplace to both take and analyze pictures in order to help make decisions on your manufacturing line.

What benefits come from Machine Vision?
Using Machine Vision in the workplace comes with a variety of benefits, to name a few:

Increase in Quality Control

Implementing camera systems on your manufacturing lines allows you the chance to collect real-time information and automatically provide necessary computer data feedback. 

Ensures Quality Standardization

Protect your company's brand name by being able to make sure that every single part or product that gets inspected is now held to the same exact quality standards. No two people have the same eyes but multiple cameras can have the same programs.

Precise Non-Contact Measurement

With new cameras being released and resolutions being higher than ever before part inspection, gauging, and measuring has never been faster, more accurate, or more repeatable. Measuring a part on the line can now be done without stopping your machine or causing any downtime.

Increase Productivity

Replace older and slower methods of manual inspection with a more efficient camera system, reallocate those workers to a more important task while continuing to inspect faster and more accurately than ever before.

Decrease Capital/Labor Costs

Decrease your manufacturing cost by implementing a single camera system which can replace multiple manual inspectors on any line. Also, by having a quality inspection station early on your line can cut down on wasted materials by scraping unwanted parts early in your process.

How can I use Machine Vision?
Cognex has unique way of categorizing possible applications that could use machine vision, they promote the four major categories as Guidance, Identification, Gauging, and Inspecting ... otherwise known as GIGI.

     Guidance - Use a camera to tell a robot where a particular part is on a pallet, conveyor, and bin etc.

     Identification - Recognize shapes/colors, use OCR/OCV to read characters, read 1D/2D Barcodes

     Gauging - How long is my part? Set a Fail output for a part shorter than 10mm or longer than 12mm

     Inspecting - Which part is on my line right now? Is my part skewed? Are there any surface flaws?

To Learn more go to Cognex's What is machine vision?

How can I try Machine Vision?
If you have enjoyed learning about machine vision and would like to look into it a little more feel free to reach out to Gibson Engineering, the distributor of Cognex vision products through out New England, New York, and northern New Jersey.

Let us know if you interested in a product demonstration or would like to schedule a visit with one of our automation engineers!

Thank you for reading,

Brett Concannon
Gibson Engineering Co., Inc
www.gibsonengineering.com

Its well published that the key to effective safety in the work environment is made up of a combination of variables, most importantly the collaboration between an employee's actions and the abilities of the technology around them. A well trained employee knows to keep their hands out of certain parts of their machine but we are all human ... and mistakes are bound to happen.

Today, the Industrial environment seems to be changing daily. New advancements in machining and production capabilities allows companies to increase efficiency like never before. Keeping those employees safe is a necessity because they make this growth possible. To help with this problem, SICK has always been focused on creating the most technologically advanced safety products for over 70 years.

The two most recent additions to SICK's safety product arsenal would be the Detec4 light curtain and the Microscan3 laser area scanner.

SICK Detec4 - Light Curtains

Replace hard guarding around machines with the new Detec4 prime from SICK. State-of-the-art technology allows these light curtains to be incredibly versatile and easy to use as ever before.

Heights ranging from 300mm to 2100mm (~1 to 7 feet)

Scanning Range of up to 30 meters between each curtain

Standard M12 Cables and easy cascading capabilities

Integrated alignment aid with diagnostic LEDs

Automatic configuration - no programming necessary

SICK Microscan3 -  Laser Area Scanner

Useful for guarding large areas or whole rooms, these scanners utilize the brand new "safeHDDM" technology to be more reliable and rugged than any scanner on the market before.

Protective Range of 5.5m (over 18 feet)

Scanning range of 275 Degrees around the unit

M12 Standard connections & easy mounting bracket

USB Connection for easy setup and programming

LED diagnostic lights and colorful status displays

Thinking about adding safety products to your current operations? Feel free to reach out to Gibson Engineering, SICK's Elite Distributor in New England, New York, and New Jersey for a product demonstration!

Thank you for reading,

Brett Concannon

Gibson Engineering Co., Inc

www.GibsonEngineering.com

D I V E R S I T Y

Diversity is defined as a mix of social identities; your race, gender, age and personal characteristics; your education, marital status, occupation, but I think it is more than that. I think diversity is not only this big generic buckets, its is also the little things - what we like and don't like, our interests, our hobbies. Anything that make us different from someone else. Some of these factors matter more in the work place than others, but what should they matter at all?

  Diversity is a double-edge sword. On one side is it something we are so proud off because it is our roots, where we came from, and who we are, but on the other it is what makes people judge us and how the perceive us before they even know us. 

This perception is know as an unconscious bias, where out mind makes decisions for us before we even know what is going on. 

Here is an incredible video about the reality of the unconscious bias. 

What does my headscarf mean to you? | Yassmin Abdel-Magied

Many companies have anti-discrimination clauses in their by-laws, but they rarely help diversity. It must companies they are only there to prevent lawsuits, rather than actually improve the diversity of a company. And it's really not a surprise that diversity challenges have improved at all, because we haven't tried any new types of diversification tactics since the 60's! 

Yassmin makes a point in her video that to help diversify our companies and ourselves that we should try and mentor someone that is completely different than we are. I think this is a really cool idea and that we should all try this at least once in our life. For me, I was lucky enough to have to experience to a small extent. Where I am employed, I was the first intern hired that was not an engineer I had a business background. So for the first few months of my internship it was a lot of trying to figure how to combine engineering trained minds with a business trained mind. This led to a lot of improvements (and a few challenges) but in the end it was all worth it, and now I have been with the company going on six years, and I love every day of it. I think we all need to try and take a step back and try to mentor, or enter a situation that is different for us to help improve the diversity in our workplaces. 

What is a Photoelectric Sensor?

SICK Photoelectric Sensors

A photoelectric sensor is a piece of equipment used to discover the distance, absence, or presence of an object. This is done by using a light transmitter, most commonly infrared, and a photoelectric receiver.  

There are many different styles and options that photoelectric sensors can have, but there are 3 basic principles:

Proximity Sensors

Proximity Photoelectric Sensors are probably the most common kind available. With the sender and receiver built directly into a single unit, they are optimized to be used in a variety of applications. These would be applications that require reliable sensors but may be lacking vital extra space. Proximity sensors rely on the sender unit emitting a light beam which then bounces off the target object and returns back to the receiving unit inside the sensor to signal that an object is there.

Retro-reflective Sensors

 

Similar to Proximity sensors, retro-reflective sensors have their sending and receiving optics built directly inside the same housing. The main difference between this sensing technology and proximity based sensing is that rather than the light beam reflecting off any standard object it only works when reflected off an actual reflector (seen above). These sensors have a longer range than most proximity photo-eyes allowing them to be used in even more restrained environments.

Thru-beam Sensors

Thru-beam sensors are much different than the previous two principles because this technology separates the optics into two different pieces. One part contains the sender and the other part holds the receiver, making one thru-beam sensor actually come as a 2 piece pair. These two different parts are mounted separately from each other and then the light is emitted between them. Whenever an object comes in between the sender/receiver it disrupts the beam which would trigger the desired output! 

If you had questions on any particular sensor or wanted to learn a little more about the available technologies don't hesitate to reach out, Gibson Engineering is now the Elite Distributor of SICK sensors throughout the Northeast! Thank you for reading,

Brett Concannon

Gibson Engineering Co., Inc

www.GibsonEngineering.com

Robots Won't Take Our Jobs - They Will Create Them.

Neff Power shared an interesting article about the automation industry and how robots are not taking our jobs, but they are making room for more meaning full jobs. The original article can be found here on Quartz.

Many people are worried that the automation process and robotics are going to take many jobs for hard workers, in some cases this is true, but in reality this new wave of technology is actually creating new more meaningful jobs. "To simply argue that automation is going to gobble up jobs ignores that potential for productivity gains."

This is not to say that automation will not cost some jobs, because it will, but evidence shows that automation will lead to the substitution of jobs. As jobs and industries disappear there is a new demand for something new. Meaning new skills and training will be needed for these new jobs and industries.

Accurate repetitive motion in the workplace  -  Tuthill Plastics Group, Florida 

This video is another fantastic example of the potential opportunities for improvement that collaborative robots bring into the workplace. It is a success story from Tuthill Plastics, an injection molding company based in Florida. Avoiding defects and increasing productivity are just a few of the positive impacts that Sawyer was able to bring to their growing facility!

Rethink Robotics: Customer Success Story - Tuthill Plastics

Sawyer's accuracy and repeatability of motion down to .1mm was able to load their CNC machines faster and more reliably. This accuracy was able to reduce a length defect on parts by 98% and save the operator from doing all the loading manually ... reducing time and waste while increasing their productivity.

"Its there to do the hard labor jobs that we don't want the people to do ... we want them to use their brains a lot more and a lot less of the physical labor out there on the floor" 

- Bruce Boyer, Tuthill Production Manager

If you would like more information on Sawyer or if you have a particular application that you would like to know if Sawyer can do .... let us know!

Thank you for watching,

Brett Concannon
Gibson Engineering Co., Inc.
www.gibsonengineering.com

7 Tasks that a Collaborative Robot can Save an Employee from Doing!

1.) CNC Machining
     Decrease the amount of scrapped or defected parts by accurately loading your lines and machines
         Watch Sawyer Load/Unload and Operate a CNC Machine!

2.) Metal Fabrication
     Load fabrication machines efficiently and safely to keep production downtime minimal.
          Watch Sawyer Load multiple Metal parts in a Metal Machine!

3.) Packaging
     Use Sawyer to load parts into boxes with accurate and reliable repetitive motion.
          Watch Sawyer use multiple tools to pack a box!

4.) Test and Inspection
     For a vision system, use Sawyer to bring either the camera to the part or the part to the camera.
          Watch Sawyer use a Camera/Light to inspect a part!

5.) Line Loading & Unloading
     Utilize sawyer around other employees while maximizing productivity on your lines.
          Watch Sawyer Load a Moving Conveyor next to other employees!

6.) Molding Operations
     Use 2 Collaborative Robots together to ensure products move seamlessly between machines.
          Watch 2 Rethink Robots work together to move parts around a Molding system!

7.) PCB Handling & ICT
     Use Sawyer's ability of "force sensing" to easily guide parts into the right machining place.
          Watch Sawyer Load an ICT machine using "force sensing"!


Thank you for reading/watching,

Brett Concannon
Gibson Engineering Co., Inc.
www.gibsonengineering.com

Original article writing by Alexandra Levit can be found here 

Will powering down from the job really make us more successful and productive, France thinks so.

As of the first of the year the passes the "Right to disconnect" law, which tells organizations with more that employees that have to let their workforce "switch off" during none business hours, or at least a compromised time for non-work related items. This is to help employees from feeling burnt out due to over working. 

Pros

- Prevents employees from being overworked

- Allows employees to spend time with family

- Creates a better work/life balance and integration

Cons

- The same schedule doesn't work for everyone

- This could effect how the conduct business in other time zones

- Could cause more stress due to stricter times lines/dead lines

I personally think that making sure employees have carved out personal and family time could really improve their motivation and happiness, but as the article says everyone likes to work at different times. Many of us work odd schedules, but there always needs to be time for yourself and your loved ones. 

The robot who does those "unpleasant" tasks  -  MS Schramberg, Germany

The video is a great customer success story from a German magnet manufacturer, MS Schramberg. They are currently using 6 Sawyer robots in their manufacturing process, each exposed to elements that their employees shouldn't be ... small parts and hot environments are no longer a problem!

Rethink Robotics: Customer Success Story - MS-Schramberg

A great example of how collaborative robots can be used to improve the work environment of fellow employees by doing those unpleasant tasks. No employee wants to do repetitive motion in extreme heat!

If you would like more information on Sawyer or if you have an "unpleasant task" of your own that you would like to know if Sawyer can do .... let us know!

Thank you for watching,

Brett Concannon
Gibson Engineering Co., Inc.
www.gibsonengineering.com

RFID tags are everywhere. They are in toll transponders, entry & ignition keys, credit cards, and even pets and cattle. RFID microchips can be as small as a grain of sand making them easy to attach almost anywhere. Having technology that is so compact with such powerful capabilities allows businesses to better manage their supply chain, inventory, and labor cost.

RFID technology enables items to be uniquely identified and tracked during the supply chain process. The process starts with a tag or a chip with a unique identify code being placed on a particular item or shipment. This tag can then be scanned but an electronic reader anywhere along the supply chain, the best part about this is that as long as the scanners are placed close enough to the product or shipment this step can be accomplished without any human interaction. RFID chips allow businesses to track shipments, warehouse locations, product location, outbound shipments, inventory, promotional display activity, and point of sale information. RFID tags have many features that can benefit any organization such as, non-line-of-sight scanning, tracking, data collection and labor & labor cost reduction.

Non-line-of-sight scanning is a benefit to many companies because it can help reduce the time of checking and scanning incoming inventory. With RFID tags you no longer have to worry about barcodes being in the right place or readable. RFID tags can communicate within milliseconds and have the ability to scan multiple items at the same time. RFID tags also eliminated the need for human scanning with barcode readers, which can save a company a lot of money and time. The RFID tags can also relay information about product location, design and history without actually seeing the part.

RFID tags can also assist companies with tracking shipments and inventory. This becomes very beneficial for those needing to track shipping containers. RFID tags can log where it has been and what has been stored in each container.  On a smaller scale businesses, can use RFID tags to track shelf inventory. This allows you to track expiry dates, warranty information, and recall information. These tags can also help retailers that are using just in time inventory models, by providing accurate and rea-time inventory quantities and movement. They can help forecast demand, manage inventory and distribution.

Being able to collect data like this can help improve customer satisfaction and point of sale reports. RFID tags data collection capabilities are second to none. First, they are almost impossible to copy, so even when working with highly sensitive items RFID tags can be used. Secondly, they can be used in almost any environment. Most RFID tags can withstand temperatures ranging from negative 40 to 200 degrees centigrade, along with being able to survive in most acids. Even though these tags can be as small as a grain of sand they can hold anywhere from a few bits to thousands of bits of data in a single tag.

RFID chips can also improve supply chain functioning by reducing labor and labor costs. Labor is one of the largest cost components of distribution, it can account for 50-80% of the total distribution cost. RFID chips and scanning techniques can reduce receiving check-in times by 60-93%. It will also produce 36% labor savings in order picking, and a 90% reduction in verification costs during the shipping process (Michael & McCathie). Not only do these RFID tags save businesses money by reducing cost, it also makes the employees more productive. Now employees can spend more time on valuable tasks rather than counting and receiving in pallets or shipments. This proves that RFID tags will have a substantial positive impact on a company’s bottom line.

In conclusion RFID tags, can make an enormous difference to many businesses. For firms that are worried about the privacy aspect of the RFID tags, I think Kuang (2015) states it the best “No matter how often we say we’re creeped out by technology, we tend to acclimated quickly if it delivers what we want before we want it”, and this is exactly what RFID tags do. They provide information to organizations to prepare inventory, displays, and even interactions before the consumer is ever thinks about needing it. 

Sources:

Kuang, C. (2015, March 10). Disney’s $1 Billion Bet on a Magical Wristband | WIRED.

Michael, K., & Mccathie, L. (2005, July 11-13). The Pros and Cons of RFID in Supply Chain Management. International Conference on Mobile Business (ICMB'05).

                                                                                                         1.) Reliability 

Sawyer Robot - Rethink Robotics

2.) Efficiency

3.) Safe

4.) Cheap

5.) Easy to Use

6.) Flexibility

7.) Fast Payback

8.) Easy to Deploy

1.) Reliability

Collaborative Robots have the potential to be the most reliable employees that work on your factory floor, once told or trained to do a task they literally will not stop working.  Also, with the added fact that they can't call in sick or browse Facebook when no ones looking makes a collaborative robot an incredible asset for any facility.

2.) Efficiency

There are many different kinds of collaborative robots but Sawyer from Rethink Robotics (pictured above) is one the most technologically advanced around. All training/programming is done directly from his arm and an previously trained tasks can be brought up directly on his screen for you to use again. Train your Sawyer to do a task once and step back .... the arm will continue to go until it runs out of work to do!

3.) Safe

The whole idea behind collaborative robots is the inherent safety that is built in to them. The reason for this is that safety is the #1 concern on all manufacturing floors. Traditional robots must be guarded and fenced in but a collaborative robot does not. If one of these arms does run into a fellow employee or another object it simply stops moving, being smart enough to know that something is in their way.

4.) Cheap

Most decisions in working environments are driven by price, especially the purchasing of equipment such as robots. With collaborative robots coming in roughly around $30k, its a great time to start looking at all the costs you would be saving by making the investment. Guarding, advanced programming, heavy scheduled maintenance area all no longer necessary which makes the investment worth it in the long run.

5.) Easy to use

Another great thing about collaborative robots, and Sawyer especially, is the ease of use and quick programming abilities. Sawyer can be trained for simple tasks directly from the arm/cuff without the need for a PC or advanced programming skills. No high level programming experience involved!

6.) Flexibility

Traditional Robots tend to be utilized for incredibly high volume and longterm projects, caged-in and bolted down. Collaborative robots can be used for the opposite, Sawyer comes on a wheeled pedestal allowing a switch between jobs simple and easy. The end of the arm is designed to hold several different tooling options, everything from high speed cameras or parallel electric grippers down to vacuum cups are available. The options and customizations for collaborative robots are endless.

7.) Fast Payback

As I had mentioned before, collaborative robots are incredible easy to train and use. This allows an operator to set one up and basically let them go. The robot doesn't sleep or stop working and as long as it has something to do ... it will do it. This makes the ROI incredibly fast. A collaborative robot can usually have paid for itself in less than a year of operation, Rethink Robotic's Sawyer usually sees a full return in just a matter of months.

8.) Easy to deploy

By far one of the greatest benefits which comes from choosing collaborative robots is the fact that they are so easy to set up and operate within a workspace, Traditional robots can take a significant amount of time to get set up and operational on a plant floor. The Sawyer robot itself can be un-boxed, attached to the pedestal, and already be trained/working in under an hour.


If you would like more information on collaborative robots or Sawyer from Rethink Robotics please follow the link or contact us directly!

Thank you for reading,

Brett Concannon
Gibson Engineering Co., Inc.
www.gibsonengineering.com

With the rapid changes in automation and robotics impacting the size and composition of the Manufacturing workforce, many CEOs are evaluating where to focus time and investments. To support those decisions, here is a list of 10 top questions to which every CEO should have answers:   

1. What is our Total Cost of Workforce as a percent of revenue?  As a percent of expenses? How do we compare to peers?
2. Can we accurately forecast our workforce needs in the future?
3. Can we model our workforce to optimize cost, profit and productivity? How do we rank in workforce productivity?
4. What are the strategic critical (A) roles vs. operational critical (B) roles vs. commodity (C) roles? For which roles is it better to build, buy or rent talent?
5. Where does our best talent come from? Which managers are the best talent scouts and coaches?
6. What recruiting source yields the most high performers? What recruiting source yields the best cultural fits? What is our cost per hire?
7. What is our quality of  new hires? Can we measure it?
8. Are we losing the right people(low performers) or the wrong people(high performers or critical roles/skills)? Do we know drivers of employee turnover? What is our cost of turnover?
9. What is the ROI of training to the firm?  Where could training investments improve productivity and profitability?
10. Are leaders effectively managing human capital? Do leaders correlate to employee engagement, retention and performance?

The ease or difficulty with which a CEO can answer these questions is dependent upon access to workforce analytics software (such as HCMI SOLVE) and the quality of the HR team. If you are in short supply of either one, please reach out and I'd be pleased to share some ideas. 

For those new to the Manufacturing Workforce landscape, Keith S. Campbell, a Manufacturing industry veteran, has put together a comprehensive primer called "Manufacturing Workforce Development Playbook: Preparing for the manufacturing renaissance in America". 

Go to this site (https://www.packworld.com/playbooks/manufacturing-workforce-development-playbook) to download a free PDF of the Playbook.