Automation Canada - Robotic Integration Issue - 16

TWO PORTRAITS OF THE LEAN INTEGRATOR
Vectis Automation: Focused on Welding
Founded in 2019 in Fort Collins, Colorado, Vectis Automation
assembled a team of engineers with more than 75 years of combined
expertise in traditional robotic welding applications. In addition to their
technical fluency, team members can also attest to the positive impact
robots have had in helping large enterprises bridge the burgeoning
skills gap in welding.
The welding profession, like so many manufacturing-related trades, is
experiencing a graying effect that points toward a future shortage of
experienced workers. The average age of a U.S. welder is 55,
according to research by Deloitte, and most welders are likely to retire
within 10 years. Comparing this pending wave of retirements to the
current talent pipeline, the American Welding Society projects that the
shortage of welding professionals in the U.S. will reach 291,000 in
2020. This labor gap affects organizations of all sizes. But for SMEs,
which have struggled to leverage traditional robots due to cost,
support, and specialized engineering requirements, the labor gap
could be painfully acute.
Recognizing this as a market opportunity for a cobot solution, Vectis'
founders launched the company with the specific strategic aim to
leverage lower-cost, lower-risk, easily implemented cobots to help
smaller welding operations improve productivity through automation.
" There are a lot of small to medium-size manufacturers who have
more production POs coming in than they have the capacity to fill given
the current-and worsening-shortage of welders, " explains Josh
Pawley, director of business development and Vectis co-founder. " They
cannot leverage traditional automation because there are significant
barriers to entry involving capital costs, programming, implementation,
lead time, cost, risk, and training. " But welding shop owners, Pawley
adds, often have a do-it-yourself mindset, and are willing to adopt
cobot tools with the product and application support that Vectis
provides.
Vectis' business model embodies the lean integrator methodology.
The company has streamlined its cost structure by creating a
C A N A D I A N A U TO M AT I O N

MT Solar in Montana has deployed the Vectis Cobot Welding Tool
developed by Vectis Automation, a Certified Systems Integrator of
Universal Robots. The Cobot Welding Tool is a ready-to-weld UR+
certified application kit powered by Universal Robots' UR10e. UR+
Application Kits provide hardware, software and components designed
to streamline deployment of the most popular cobot applications.
VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

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Automation Canada - Robotic Integration Issue

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