With so much technology and manufacturing in western PA, it's time for our vocational training to not just meet needs, but to lead industry by shaping the skills of the future workforce. De-risking automation for manufacturing will be the driving force behind manufacturing education. It’s time our schools be that resource for their industry partners and it’s time I be that resource for our educators.
Highlight From Our Region
We’re fortunate to have a market leader, Brian Knopp, founder and CEO of Cobot Systems, right in our backyard. I have had the pleasure of speaking with Brian on several occasions and have visited his facility in Rostraver. Below are some insights into the automated manufacturing space and how western Pennsylvania can use this time to step up and lead the way by utilizing local resources like Brian and myself.
1. As an introduction for those of us in the education space, can you explain the need(s) that Cobot Systems is serving?
While high production manufacturing businesses solved their labor shortage issue with automation decades ago, automation for the high-mix/low-volume manufacturing environment of job shops has remained elusive.
Cobot Systems was founded to make job shop automation practical: It needed to be flexible, easy to program, easy to move to multiple machines, compact without the need for intrusive safety fences, and able to work WITH the machinists instead of replacing them.
Cobots work for your workers and let them focus on what’s important!
2. Cobot Systems covers the entire nation for automated machine tending, but what do you see that is unique about our region?
The high concentration of manufacturing companies including small job shops and the lack of skilled workers.
3. When presenting an automated solution to a job shop, what is the most common concern you hear in response?
Our existing pipeline of workers lacks the knowledge on how to operate these automated systems.
4. How can our educators help their local industry partners ease this concern?
It’s time for schools to fill their pipelines with students who have these skills and abilities along with the confidence to automate various processes on the shop floor.
5. Why have Cobot Systems and so many others chosen Universal Robots as their preferred collaborative robot platform?
We choose to work with Universal Robots because of the high quality, reliability, and simplicity to use plus the mature ecosystem of accessories.
6. Working with your industry partners on a daily basis, what message would you like to send to our machine tool/advanced manufacturing programs at the Community College and Career and Technical level?
Do a better job communicating to the young adults and children in middle school and high school that manufacturing is a high-tech industry with very exciting and high-paying jobs and that there are programs available to prepare them for these jobs.
Focused Solutions
Festo - complete metrology and quality control learning solutions
From Basic Dimensional Metrology to GD&T and Statistical Process Control, Festo’s new line covers hands-on training from the basics to the advanced levels for quality control in manufacturing training and industrial maintenance.
Cobot Systems
Cobot Systems provides a variety of turnkey Universal Robots-based manufacturing solutions with a focus on automated machine tending. While they are a national company, we’re fortunate to have them right in our neck of the woods.
Explore what Brian Knopp, founder and CEO of Cobot Systems, has going on in Rostraver.
New Scale Robotics’ Q-Span® Workstation Kits
Ditch the calipers! Automation and collaborative robots have become the new industry standard.
New Scale Robotics’ Q-Span® Workstation Kits work with smart gripper/calipers and any number of standard gages. The workstation (in conjunction with a cobot from Universal Robots) inspects up to 100% of parts to reduce scrap and inspection costs.
Additionally, New Scale Robotics has worked with Universal Robots to develop a full educational package with an industry certification.
Events
PACTA’s 31st Annual Symposium
PACTA, the Pennsylvania Association of Career & Technical Administrators, is having its 31st annual symposium at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center February 10 - 11, 2022. No updates yet but keep it on your calendar!
Grants
There are three federal grant programs worth hundreds of millions of dollars available in the first half of the year to help our region recover. The first of these deadlines is in January for awards starting at $150,000. What could your program use that for?
To help our communities and develop our workforce development programs, vocational centers, and universities we can use this money to make sure that western Pennsylvania remains at the top of the class from basic metrology to highly-automated machine tending and inspection.