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The pervasive feeling in the manufacturing space is, when you need something automated, you need to go out and buy a robot. However, before putting up a huge amount of capital on a new system, manufacturers need to ask themselves: Do I have the right system for the job? Am I getting this system at the best possible price? Do...
Read MoreIf automation was as simple as getting a loan, buying the system, and making more money, every business in the country would be automated. Unfortunately, there are some large roadblocks standing between small businesses and complete optimization of their production lines. Too Many Options The “too many options” paralysis applies to not only the equipment specifications (which vendor to use...
Read MoreOn Tuesday, the Senate passed the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, a bipartisan bill that aims to spend $250 billion on scientific research and development to bolster competitiveness against China. It has not yet passed the House. The bipartisan support for this bill reflects the sense of urgency policymakers feel with regards countering the substantial investments China has made into...
Read MoreThis Q&A with Misa and I was originally featured on RoboticsTomorrow.com, you can read the original article here. What is Formic, and who are the co-founders? Formic is a robotics-as-a-service company that is fundamentally changing the way industrial robotics are scoped and deployed. We handle all of the logistics of an automation deployment, from scoping and customization to installation and maintenance....
Read MoreRobotic automation has the potential to produce incredible returns for facilities who choose to deploy, but it can also be quite the resource drain when applications do not work out as planned. Sometimes these issues are easily fixed with basic troubleshooting or reprogramming, other times this downtime can wreak havoc on production processes and cause critical problems for manufacturers. Issues...
Read MoreRobotics-as-a-service is a hot and growing space, and continues to rise in popularity due to its flexibility, scalability, and low barrier to entry. In fact, ABI Research predicts that there will be 1.3 million installations of RaaS by 2026. This is quite a significant number when you consider that there are only approximately 2.7 million robots at work in factories...
Read MoreShould Manufacturers Buy Robots or Use Robots-as-a-Service We're often asked by manufacturers whether buying their own automation saves them money in comparison with Formic's "Full-Service Automation" model. The answer is: it depends. In some situations buying makes more sense, and others where Formic's usage-based pricing is better. To help our customers with this comparison, we've put together a framework for...
Read MoreTime: 12:00 p.m. CT - 1:00 p.m. CT With the announcement of several Executive Orders, including the Buy American EO and the American Supply Chain EO, the U.S. government has renewed its interest in procuring American goods and services. As such, there are many opportunities for small businesses to secure government funding and participate in a historic rebuild of the...
Read MoreFirst, what are “as-a-service” models, and why are they gaining popularity? “As-a-service” models are defined by a good or service being made available “as needed” (this could be monthly pricing or usage based pricing). Upfront costs are usually negligible or non-existent. Contract lengths are flexible, allowing users to take advantage of the good or service only as they need it. The...
Read MoreRecently we published a blog discussing automation for manufacturing CFOs. We have received some questions on that post and so this is a follow up to that original post to answer those questions. Question: Should I be concerned if I install Formic’s automation solution that my manufacturing process could be negatively impacted if Formic’s machines break? Answer: Although there is...
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