News & Knowledge

We’re your source for automation news. Keep up with the latest industry updates and E Tech employee spotlights, as well as tips and guidance from our manufacturing experts.

| June 1, 2023

Q and A from “Can your vision system do this?” webinar

Laurie Cavanaugh, VP of Business Development from E Tech Group, and Nick Hobbs, Senior Regional Sales Manager from Apera AI, recently held a webinar covering the benefits of integrating Apera AI’s 4D vision system into your automation project. There were some great follow-up questions asked by our attendees and we wanted to make sure we shared the As to your Qs! How long does it take for the AI to go through a million learning cycles? Nick: At this time, once all required information is submitted, you’ll receive your vision program back within a week to two weeks. How many different objects can the system handle at one time? What if they have a mix of different finishes? Nick: So right now, the PC alone can handle learning up to 30 different parts. However, other users that have their own internal network, which I know E Tech Group can help you to set up, have hundreds of parts and it takes a mere 20 seconds to simultaneously learn if they’re not part of those original 30. Now as far as different finishes, I have been working with foundries and casting plants where they have metal billets. We can pick clean or corroded, as they have varying finishes. We don’t care. We really don’t mind picking different colors, things of that nature. However, we’re not looking for color at that point, so you just need to let us know what we need and don’t need to look for. But in that sense, it won’t affect us. Laurie: There are some things too that we take into consideration. We do have our own internal industrial IT group that has helped numerous companies’ IT groups set up the proper OT network. Between the hardware and software, servers, and systems, we can help ensure that those … Continued

| May 31, 2023

Can Your Vision System Do This? E Tech Group & Apera Webinar Recording

E Tech Group, a control system integrator that delivers turnkey automation solutions, and Apera AI, a company that offers AI vision guidance, partnered together to produce a webinar covering the capabilities of robotic integration with 4D vision technology, which you can watch below. AI & Vision-Guided Robotics: Talking Points What if we told you that vision-guided robotics powered by AI could do all of this? Identify objects in bins and give a robot picking instructions in only 0.3 seconds. Operate in changing light conditions with no special lighting or sensors. Remove the custom programming that makes projects expensive. Traditional vision systems required a lot of expertise to train and implement, and were not very resilient to lighting changes. The new system from Apera AI is self-programming and can handle variations in lighting conditions. Some key points from the webinar: The system uses two camera sets mounted overhead to look at a bin of parts. It can learn the entire process, including the different parts and the end-of-arm tooling, by itself. It is very fast and can be used in a variety of applications, including process or discrete applications. E Tech Group can also help with the digital modeling of the solution to test it before it’s implemented. Check out the video below to view a recording of the webinar, which was originally presented on May 9, 2023. We hope you’ll gain some new ideas about making your facilities more productive!

| May 22, 2023

Automation Trends in Food & Beverage Manufacturing

Not so long ago, the food and beverage manufacturing industry was among the slowest industry verticals to adopt new production technologies. But now, with the industry growing as aggressively as ever and faced with rising demand, the industry is increasingly relying on automation to keep the shelves stocked. Along with this increasing reliance, the industry has seen certain trends emerge: as to how food and beverage manufacturing is choosing to implement automation in their facilities, what’s driving those trends, and the challenges they face in augmenting the applications of automation in food production. What Are the Major Trends in Food & Beverage Automation? The most notable automation trends among food and beverage producers are: Digital transformation — This transformation must be planned from the top down, making sure to account for all moving parts and taking into consideration not only the transformation itself, but the operational team that will be responsible for daily monitoring and interpretation of data used to optimize the facility. Robotics — A robotic system can run as an island of automation, however its real power is delivered when it is integrated into your overall efficiency process. The robot cell design, end of arm tooling development, robot selection and integration of the design into the rest of your production or packaging line is what unlocks the powerful features of robotics. Artificial intelligence (AI) — This technology tends to play well when implemented in applications where a specific volume of product is meant to fill a container, like 16 oz. of ice cream to fill a pint. AI can help ensure the correct and exact volume is distributed into each pint, each time. It also provides the information necessary to diagnose inefficiencies in machinery that may be impacting production and help plant managers remain proactive around planned downtime, routine maintenance or … Continued

| May 16, 2023

Podcast: The changing role of control system integrators in the automation industry

E Tech Group’s Business Director for Material Handling, Kurt Wakeman participated in a roundtable discussion on the future of automation industry with two other industry professionals for the Plant Services, The Tool Belt Podcast. The podcast and article were originally published by Plant Services. Click here to listen or read the transcript of the full episode. In this episode of The Tool Belt, three system integrator professionals share their perspectives on where the automation industry is heading. The Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) is a global trade association with over 500 member companies in 35 countries that seeks to advance the industry of control system integration. Control system integrators use their engineering, technical and business skills to help manufacturers and others automate their industrial equipment and systems. For this year’s System Integrator Roundtable episode, Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk spoke with three veteran system integrator professionals about how the industry is changing and which new technologies are poised to make a big impact. Kurt Wakeman is the business director for Material Handling group at E Tech Group. Bob Pusateri is director of business development at Electronic Drives and Controls. Sam Hoff is President and CEO of Patti Engineering. PS: Kurt, let me pose that question to you. Do you see a big change in the kind of work that your team will be doing in 2023 or beyond, versus the last couple of years? Or do you see the same kind of workload increasing? KW: Yeah, I do think 2023 looks a little different based on some of the economic challenges we’ve been facing. Customers tend to be investing a little bit more in existing equipment as opposed to buying new systems. They’re a little bit tighter with their money and they’re investments, so we’ve seen a big uptick in demand for recontrols, … Continued