- [Narrator] Digi-Key presents
"Factory Tomorrow,"
a three-part series exploring the latest advancements
in industrial environments
that are changing the way we think
about manufacturing new products
and adapting to the surging demand of our modern world.
- We're well on our way to systems
that allow the entire facility
to communicate and operate as a whole.
- So I can use the creativity of a human,
but also the capability of the mechanics and technology.
- [Narrator] Powered by Weidmuller,
Banner Engineering, and Supplyframe.
In this episode, we chronicle the rise of robotics
in the manufacturing industry
and how new designs enable autonomous functionality.
While others collaborate alongside human workers
on the factory floor,
creating new, high-quality job opportunities
across the industry.
We start our journey at Calvary Automation
in Rochester, New York,
where engineers are conceptualizing
and designing modular robotic systems of the future.
- How do I vision, how do we envision
the factory of the future?
There will be more automation.
- [Narrator] We sit down with Joseph Gemma
of Calvary Robotics,
who explains how their company is solving unique challenges
for their customers.
- And in our industry, partnership is really critical.
Technology capabilities across that is so widespread.
So we work together as partners.
So it starts with the customer saying, "I have a challenge.
Can someone help me? Can you help me
get either more productivity or help me
with a process to make this a little bit easier
for the human being to work alongside this?"
So I can use the creativity of human,
but also the capability of the mechanics and technologies.
There might be a process that they've never done before;
they're adding to a new product.
And since they don't know how that's gonna work,
they don't want the risk of that not working on the floor.
They need productivity once it gets to their floor.
So we'll work together with them here in our labs,
we'll actually test that.
So we help them to have a successful project in the end.
- [Narrator] Next, we speak with Michael Marseglia,
who shares his views on the importance
of iterating on past designs and always looking forward
to harness emerging trends and technologies.
- So, we stand on the shoulders of giants,
no matter what we do in this industry, right?
Looking backwards first.
And we're starting to see an emerging pattern,
and the emerging pattern obviously is the workforce.
They're looking at ways to make their systems,
their machines, everything they do much smarter
and much more reliable,
with much less interaction from technicians
and from users, from some of their workforce.
They used to look at their manufacturing center as a system.
Now they're taking a look at their entire factory
as a system.
And they say, "How does our factory operate?
How many steps do I walk from here to there
to complete something?
What am I paying for that?
And how do I make that better?"
Evolution of electronics is unbelievable
because it's a technology that evolves itself
and just accelerates upon itself, right?
And the faster the technology grows, the faster we move.
The rate of change, I guess, is the big difference here.
So our industry changes daily
and we need stay on top of it every day for that reason.
- [Narrator] Bob Bastian,
Director of Enterprise Architecture at Digi-Key Electronics,
provides an overview of how robotics are influencing
numerous aspects of modern manufacturing,
ultimately leading to a more productive
and efficient factory floor.
- Autonomous robots are a big leap forward for facilities,
especially large footprint facilities.
In the past, you'd have to use conveyors
and in-place systems to deliver and transport material
from one place to another.
The autonomous robot allows us to make changes
to that path of delivery
and gathering materials much more quickly.
And you can redesign a new path in a matter of minutes
to deliver product back and forth,
where in the past you would've had probably physical cart
movement of a manual person pushing the car
from one area to another.
Autonomous robots are gonna allow us
to advance delivery of supplies from one area
of the facility to the others much more quickly,
without human labor.
The marriage of robotics and artificial intelligence
is the next step that we see going on.
And these robots learn,
they're picking product, say out of a tray,
the products are never the same,
they're scattered different places.
The robot can be more efficient as it learns
and uses that intelligence to pick the product
and pick the right product,
it's not to squeeze a product too hard,
knowing the consistency, all that type of stuff.
So AI robotics are really the current trend.
- [Narrator] Luca Difalco of STMicroelectronics
explains how adding new technologies
into manufacturing processes create a positive impact
on efficiency, safety, and new opportunities
within the workforce.
- When you speak about autonomous manufacturing,
that is all different workforce behind the scene
that actually need to run this thing,
need to maintain, need to control it.
It's not a matter of workforce action,
it's just a skillset shift.
So there'll be less need of unskilled workforce,
but much more need of very-skilled workforce.
The world is gonna hit 8 billion people pretty soon,
and there's need for workers everywhere.
So the factory will change,
it will morph into something else.
The skillset provided is gonna be different,
but at cobot again, which is a collaboration of robots,
still collaborate with somebody.
So we need to make sure that somebody
is actually able to in cobot now
to only move things with his hands,
but actually interphase and interact.
- [Narrator] The intersection of robotics technology
and human workers in manufacturing
creates numerous opportunities for enhanced efficiency
and collaboration in future factories.
With robotics designs taking over simple and menial tasks,
humans are able to focus on the path forward,
utilizing their creativity to realize factory tomorrow.