Innovative Manufacturers Center
Driving Manufacturing Growth and Job Creation in Central Pennsylvania
Many CNC job shops are struggling with labor and skills crises in order to keep their business viable, which has become increasingly challenging with COVID-19. While automating CNCs may sound like an easy answer, shop owners are concerned with the complexity of automating low-volume, high-mix production requirements; easy change-over; and ROI. Additionally, many shops have limited floor space along with employees that have no robotics programming experience.
In this webinar, Universal Robots and VersaBuilt Robotics will discuss how to start the CNC automation journey with a crawl, walk, run approach. It will begin with the CNC operation process, then address the role of operators, and finish with the CNC automation process.
Speakers
Stuart Shephard, Vertical Development Director, Americas, Universal Robots
Stuart (“Stu”) Shepherd’s career spans more than 40 years in automation, including roles at General Motors, FANUC Robotics, Shepherd Solutions (a boutique automation business consulting firm), KUKA Robotics and Güdel AG. He joined Universal Robots in April 2018 and is currently responsible for growing UR’s metal fabrication and machine tending markets in the Americas, utilizing his deep experience ranging from large-scale automotive to small job shops to welding integrators. Stu is also a Past Chairperson and Board Member of the Robotic Industries Association (RIA) and Past Chairperson of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3).
Al Youngwerth, Founder & CEO, VersaBuilt Robotics
Al Youngwerth has been making innovative products for more than 35 years. After a 15-year career in software development, Al founded Rekluse Motor Sports, a manufacturer of high-performance motorcycle clutches, in 2002. In 2015, Al founded VersaBuilt Robotics to commercialize high-mix automation technology developed at Rekluse to the world market. Al holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from California State University, Chico in Computer Science. When not tinkering with robots or new business opportunities, Al enjoys riding anything on two wheels, flying airplanes and racing cars.
Sponsor