Within the Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing & Productivity’s third-annual Wisconsin Manufacturing Report, released last fall, was a startling statistic.
“Fifty-one percent of manufacturers in Wisconsin failed to see how artificial intelligence had anything to do with their business,” said Buckley Brinkman, executive director and CEO of WCMP, which works with small- to medium-sized manufacturers across the state.
In response to the report, which surveyed 400 Wisconsin manufacturers, WCMP produced a weekly video series covering AI basics. The first video dropped in February.
“Technology is moving so fast,” said Joe Hamann, executive director of UW-Milwaukee’s Connected Systems Institute. “Sharing those learnings will help everybody improve … (using) the ‘rising tide raises all ships’ mentality.”
Understanding the definition of automation is key – because then companies and potential employees in this sector can start visualizing how it will help them.
“Automation is easy to think of as a robot, but automation can have a much broader realm of applications, whether it’s the robotic arm or automatic conveyors, sensors and software. It’s a bigger rainbow of opportunities than thinking of a robotic arm,” said Eric Decker, business development manager for WMEP Manufacturing Solutions.
“If you like to tinker, if you like to program, if you like machinery, if you like software … there are going to be phenomenal career opportunities waiting for you, particularly if you are a person trained to support automation equipment,” said Decker.
As manufacturers scramble to fill open positions and struggle with a slimmed-down workforce, could investing in automation be the answer to keep productivity up and also fill these jobs?
Launched in 2018, the Transformational Productivity Initiative is a public-private partnership created by WMEP Manufacturing Solutions, aiming to increase productivity at Wisconsin manufacturing businesses.
WCMP’s annual report revealed that 81% of those surveyed struggle to find qualified workers while 55% are currently filling open positions. While the answer might be to invest in technology, there are definite barriers: time and money.
“The number one obstacle is financing – 32% of companies (in the WCMP survey) cited this,” said Brinkman. “Larger companies have the wherewithal to create technology to overcome those hurdles.”
Smaller companies, on the other hand, are saddled with smaller budgets or lack expertise to implement technology. Eighty percent of manufacturers in Wisconsin have less than 25 employees.
This is a challenge WMEP also observes at Wisconsin manufacturers. The organization works with companies of between 40 and 250 employees.
“Pricing (for automation) can range anywhere from the low end – $50,000 – all the way into the millions of dollars. Is this a small project? Is this a large project? Is this custom automation technology that someone’s going to have to create?” said Decker. “The more complex the automation solution, the longer this is going to take. Automation is not an instant implementation. Even with off-the-shelf, ready-to-go solutions you’re talking at least two months.”
Another key factor is to form a strategy. In other words, don’t just bring in the technology and not have someone in place to operate it.
“We have all been in a facility where a company bought a piece of equipment and it was either the wrong piece of equipment or you can’t find anyone to support it,” says Colin Wilson, service line leader – senior consultant automation services at WMEP.
One myth is automation replaces jobs.
“Most manufacturers, when they begin to embark on an automation journey, they’re not doing so to lay people off. It’s usually to help their current workforce, to keep every person they can,” said Decker. “People are difficult to find and expensive to turn over, in addition to the loss of knowledge.”
Folding automation into manufacturing actually creates new jobs – and opportunities for upskilling – as employees still need to manage the robots and technology.
“Robotics help for boring, repetitive tasks like loading boxes at the end of a line,” said Brinkman.
Automation also helps protect employees from injury: “If your computer misbehaves, you just reboot. If a piece of equipment misbehaves, people can get hurt,” said Kyle Crum, director of advanced technology at Rockwell Automation.
This new set of jobs appeals to younger workers, too.
“One operator is able to service four or five machines and they are more technology friendly than what the old jobs were,” said Brinkman. “It’s more attractive to the younger worker who is more digitally native. They grew up with technology.”
Investing in technology helps attract those workers.
“When we talk about the changing manufacturing world, it used to be dark, dingy and dangerous,” says Hamann. “The manufacturing environment is becoming very high-tech. Students who are being trained in these environments, that’s the kind of experience they’re expecting when they come out to the factory floor. As those tools become approachable, the demand for the cognitive portion of this skill will increase.”
AI can also boost productivity.
“What we’re seeing in manufacturers is they’ll invest in the technology so they can get more out with the same number of employees and then, as a side benefit, look at the parts they’re buying from other manufacturers and saying, ‘Hey, I can manufacture them in-house for the same price I was buying them for,’” said Brinkman. “That gives them more control over the quality.”
Paired with this innovation is a new set of jobs in automation to make it all happen.
“This is a really exciting time to be in manufacturing,” said Crum. “We are seeing a ground shift in how people are thinking about their supply chains. There are careers that are going to be made that we don’t even know the title of.”
Fortunately, Wisconsin’s colleges and universities, including Milwaukee Area Technical College and Waukesha County Technical College, offer training in automation to help fill these roles.
“That’s arming the next generation with not only the tools to do the job, but also be in a position to lead,” said Crum. “UWM has recently made it a lot easier for graduates of those technical schools with a two-year degree to transition immediately into a program with a single sheet of paper.”
Wilson has noticed technical schools in Wisconsin creating automation labs and learning areas, which also help prepare students for employment.
“A lot of companies are reshoring,” said Decker. “The only way we will stay competitive in manufacturing, price-wise and quality-wise, is automation. There’s a strong demand. That creates a very good sweet spot if you’re looking for a job in manufacturing.”
A pre-engineered solution to automation’s steep investment
In 2022, Ron Roehl, owner of CNC Solutions in Johnson Creek, began to rent out his company’s robotics and automations equipment to companies.
“One of the fears is capital expenditure and having the talent in-house to program these robots and maintain them,” says Roehl. “Mom-and-pop shops is where we’re seeing the value of automation the most. Ironically, those are the people who can’t afford automation.”
The company’s pre-engineered automation system, called 10der, is a solution.
“We’re implanting these systems in as little as three days,” says Roehl. Or, in 16 to 20 weeks it can create a custom solution.
“It’s a good entry point for someone who’s never had robotics before,” said Roehl. “I don’t think I can recall any circumstance in which somebody has gotten robotics and said, ‘Sorry, take this out.’”
This automation is rented out through a third-party financier – for much less than it costs to hire a worker.