Y-Blog

Like the veracity of the 3,000-mile oil change, some people view maintenance schedules with skepticism. Today’s synthetic oils can keep car engines running perfectly well and safely for up to and beyond 5,000 miles between oil changes, but the old 3,000-mile standard still lingers.

One-size-fits-all maintenance standards really don’t fit at all. In regards to capital equipment, some organizations take a run-to-failure approach; others are fastidious about not only the repair process but also preventive maintenance.

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Spring is a great time to think about planning a summer robot maintenance break. Smart maintenance isn’t just inspecting, cleaning and replacing robot parts. A savvy plant manager also uses maintenance time to optimize a robot’s programming, which means analyzing the robot’s programming. Read More

Two hundred forty minutes could save you $240,000 or more on your manufacturing process, but unlike those GEICO® commercials, not everybody knows that. Some of the companies that are in the know, however, say it’s because they agreed to a plant audit. A plant audit is a when a perceptive supplier visits your factory to meet with your production team, listen to your production supervisors and study how you are manufacturing piece parts. The process takes about four hours or roughly half a day, but the payoff can be more than worth it. Read More

Imagine you’ve decided to automate an application. You’ve chosen robotics to be the fulcrum, but you need a robotics integrator to help you reach your goal. Once you have researched whom to speak with, how do you compare these integrators? There are 4 "Cs” to sizing up any integrator; I define them as concept, cost, capabilities and capacity. Read More