In recent years, manufacturing has come to grips with an unavoidable fact: as production has ramped up in terms of speed and volume, so has spoilage. In fact, it has become common for companies to build in waste from scrap into its operational costs.

There once was a time when precision in manufacturing meant working within tolerances of less than an inch. Then it was less than a centimeter. Then a millimeter. Now precision is measured in microns. And the reason: robotics.

General Motors introduced robotics into the manufacturing supply chain in 1961, integrating a repetitive task assembly process via robotics into a rolling high-speed assembly line. Since then, more companies have rapidly embraced robotics for their manufacturing supply chains. There’s a simple reason: cost. With the addition of robotics, organizations realize decreased downtime and an increase in speed and quality.

According to FutureScape research conducted by the International Data Corporation, robotics in manufacturing will increase significantly in the next three years, with a 17% annual compounded growth rate. With this revolution comes a need for even more precision and speed, affecting how fluid applications will impact these robotics workflows.

Luckily, Designetics understands, embraces and champions precision in its fluid application systems and solutions. For manual applicators, Designetics employs a rigorous series of manufacturing checks, ensuring that applicators are built to stringent specifications. After all, poor quality in an applicator could create issues with how the robot was programmed to operate.

Each month, we sit down with a Designetics innovator to talk about his or her career, what makes fluid applications systems at Designetics special, and topics relevant to the fluid applications industry. This month: R&D Engineer Charles Barnhart.

When it comes time to choose a fluid application system provider, you’re faced with a dizzying array of choices: makers of fluid applicators, end-to-end fluid application solutions providers and intermediaries who contract with fluid application system providers. So how to decide?

Designetics is not only a leader in fluid application systems, it also leads by getting involved in its community through its non-profit foundation, Designetics Cares.

To that end, a number of Designetics employees recently took part in an afternoon of giving back, volunteering at Bethany House, a long-term transitional shelter for victims of domestic abuse, located in Toledo, OH. During the day, employees assisted in facility cleaning, doing yardwork, such as weeding and raking. Afterwards, the Designetics employees shared a meal with residents.