Speaker 0 00:00:00 We started making watches, that's where we cut our teeth, and where we really made an impact in the market was that we came out with the world's first Quartz watch.
Speaker 2 00:00:16 Hello everyone and welcome to the Robot Industry podcast. This podcast series is being recorded around Automate 2023 show in mid-May, and I thought it'd be something different to have two guests today. So my guests for this edition are Chris Round and Scott Marek, both from Epson Robotics, uh, very respected brand and robotics, and especially in small parts material handling and assembly. Scott and Chris, like the Epson brand, are movers and shakers in the robot industry. Chris Round is a regional manager for Epson Robotics. He has over 25 years marketing and selling globally in the automation packaging and S m T industries with a diverse background in conveyors, electronics, and robotics. He's currently on the robotics industry, America's marketing committee. Chris resides in Cincinnati, Ohio with his wife Linda, and three kids all currently in college. Chris graduated with a bachelor of science degree from Bowling Green State University, and Scott Marsak has over two decades of experience successfully transforming diagnostic technical and business intelligence products into innovative market leading goods and services. As group product manager at Epson America, Scott is responsible for developing strategic initiatives to help drive channel growth and end user demand across the industrial robotics product category. Scott holds a BS from the University of California Santa Cruz, an MS from the University of Southern California, and an MBA from San Francisco State University. So gentlemen, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 0 00:01:45 Thanks for having us. Thanks, Jim. Thanks for having
Speaker 2 00:01:47 Us. Hey, I'm gonna get you both to tell us a little bit about, uh, what you do at Epson, uh, from, and what's going on at Epson. But I wanted to start off that I remember where Epson robots were making watches. Can you give our audience a little bit of an overview of Epson Corp and Epson Robotics?
Speaker 0 00:02:03 Yeah, I Epson or, you know, formally Seco Epson Corporation, uh, or we, we call s e c internally about, about a 10 billion corporation, give or take, based on the the Yen exchange rate. Uh, we're, we're a vertically integrated global manufacturing powerhouse, um, have been for decades. Uh, we are founded in 1942 in Japan. Uh, we, we focus on the consumer electronics and precision products. Our headquarters is in Nagano pre fixture. It's about a three hour train ride west of Tokyo. It's a beautiful part of the country. And, and, and to your point, yeah, we, we started making watches. That's, that's, that's where we cut our teeth and where we really made an impact, uh, in the market was that we came out with the world's first Quartz watch watch. So before that, you're winding up your watch, you're inaccurate, you forget to wind it, you lose track of the time.
Speaker 0 00:02:54 All of a sudden we're putting courts and watches and courts really became central to all the technologies that we develop at Epson. We manufacture our, our own courts. Uh, quartz is a, is is an amazing mineral. Um, it tell, basically it's a great timing device. If you apply a voltage to courts and oscillate to the known frequency, same time you can use it as a motion detection device. So it worked well in watches and basically we're manufacturing watches for years. And long story short, that's how we got into robotics. Moving from that video that you showed with all these people on a factory floor with tweezers and loops, trying to put little gears into watches with high precision, we needed something to automate and something to make things faster. Nobody had a robot that was available at that time that met our specs, met our throughput requirements, precision requirements, classic Epson fashion. We built our own. And so for the past four plus decades, we've been the precision automation experts. Um, and all started with Wristwatches.
Speaker 2 00:03:57 And of course, the cool thing about Epson is Epson was using its own products for its own use and then decided, hey, we should maybe sell this some somebody else.
Speaker 0 00:04:05 Yeah. And that's, that's, that's, that's classic Epson being vertically integrated. We, we have actually have a team of over 300 system, uh, engineers and integrators inside of Epson that develop automation systems for the manufacturing of our products. And often we're developing things as we go along and we're like, oh, that works well for us. The market probably is gonna have an interest in it. And so a lot of products do come out of that innovative, uh, internal r and d and process automation that that we do at Epson.
Speaker 2 00:04:34 Chris, you and I have had some discussions about the numbers of configurations of robot models at Epson. Can you give me a flavor of what that looks like?
Speaker 3 00:04:43 Well, sure. And again, thanks for having us, Jim. What's interesting about us is because of what Scott just talked about with our years that we've been doing this and we really work, you know, we really are in that small world, you can really look at all the things that are, that are manufacturers that are super small. So those are things that we do really well at, right? With all of that, as you think about that, think about the 45% share market that we have globally. So it, it just starts to, it starts to kind of get pretty crazy on, on where we go, what we do, who we work with it, because it's so much. But from a robot's perspective, you know, we have an entry level, we have a, let's say, say our LS series, which is more of that middle of the road solution.
Speaker 3 00:05:30 And then of course, we get into our G series, which has our new Gyro plus technology, which we'll talk about later. Uh, but all of these different robots as you, you know, we, we get into, uh, IP 54, IP 50 si, uh, 65, you, you do, uh, you know, e s d, uh, with electric, uh, uh, static tive type robots. So all these different things that is right where we do, uh, really well with. Um, so as it comes to the, the wide breadth of everything that we do, it, it, it feels like there's not much that we can't do when it comes to, and you name the industry, right? The automotive, medical, consumer products, machine tending, screw drive, all these different things. We do them. And so it's just, it's, and that's why you, you know, with, with basically four, roughly, almost 400 different types of scare robots, you're getting into almost everything you can imagine.
Speaker 2 00:06:27 You could have a factory with 400 different robots from Epson all in one, right? That's right. <laugh>. Hey, uh, uh, thank you for that. Scott. You know, Epson's a very innovative company. What are some of the new products coming from Epson? What are you getting excited about?
Speaker 0 00:06:42 Yeah, I, I, I think to reiterate what, what, what Chris mentioned, you know, we, we've got robots and solutions on the high end and, and, and the low or entry level end, it's one of the things you've really seen over the past 10 plus years is this evolution of the, of the entry level, end of automation. You know, if you go back in time, you know, when people were, were automating it, w it was basically big companies, big companies that had the capital wherewithal, the technology wherewithal, the infrastructure, the teams, the knowledge, the integrators, all of that. Those are, those are the folks that, that were doing it. People that knew automation, right? They sort of spoke to each other in their own language. And then all of a sudden, automation becomes more affordable. Labor costs go up, they go up overseas. O uh, offshoring isn't necessarily as attractive.
Speaker 0 00:07:31 So this new group slowly starts growing. People coming into automation and, and they're looking for tools. They're looking for things that are gonna help them get up and running quicker. They don't have PhDs in mechatronics or programming or any of this stuff. And so one of the things getting to your question that, that I'm really excited about is, uh, our move towards, uh, providing even easier to use software. So we've, we've been a leader and easy to use software for a long time with RC plus, uh, software that comes with the robot when you buy it. Um, but we developed something called RC plus Express, which for a long time as this was being developed, everyone referred to it as our easy software. When's the easy software gonna be here? Well, the easy software was released, first version came out with, uh, ACAA robots, and then, uh, just this past year came out with support for our six axis robots.
Speaker 0 00:08:27 And where that's really cool is that now folks, instead of having to type in code, they can drop and drag and move things around, and it gets them up and running really quickly. You combine that with a SC robot, for example, on that's under $8,000 or a six axis, that's under $15,000, that's a phenomenal deal. And for people getting started, that's really exciting. That's neat technology. That's game changing stuff for this new entry level segment. And then on the higher end, on the higher end, you've got our high speed, high precision, uh, GX series, scera robots, as Chris mentioned. We've got hundreds and hundreds of different varieties. Um, we've got models, whatever configuration you need. And at that tip of the tip of the top, um, of that performance curve right there, these guys are fast. These guys are super fast, way faster than their predecessor. Um, they've got some really neat features, um, that we're excited to share with people. And they are definitely cutting edge and they make a huge, huge difference in people's productivity, um, when they need high speed and high precision.
Speaker 2 00:09:33 Thanks Scott for that. Um, Chris, I'm gonna turn it back to you. So, um, what are your integrators and kind of end users purchasing when it comes to robots? And what sectors are they operating in?
Speaker 3 00:09:44 Yeah, so, um, and, and, and I wanna just kind of piggyback on what, what, what Scott was saying in, in terms of, um, where opportunities live, um, is really kind of a customer-centric pull through, right? So we have a customer and he wants to do a cycle study or design review. We get into that information, we start to talk about, okay, this, this individual needs a, a really, really quick cycle time and he wants to have anywhere from like an eight to 10 micron repeatability. Then we're gonna start to live in that G series. But if we may not need that, even with a six axis, we can go up to about a hundred micron repeatability, uh, with our entry level robot, uh, inside our T series. And so it just kind of depends on, on, uh, studies, design reviews, we, we get a sense as to what's going on.
Speaker 3 00:10:27 We work closely, closely with our apps team. Um, but what is being purchased now? What, what's happening is it, you know, as I said, it really kind of depends, but, you know, we're seeing really anything from screw driving, dispensing, inspection, finishing kiting, packaging, material handling, all of that. We really get into, lately we've seen a lot of consumer products, a lot of medical, I would say lately. Um, we get into the front end where we're maybe combining a couple parts, we're putting 'em in, we're laying into a clamshell and it goes down the line. Things like that. You get into medical equipment where you get little clamps and, and, uh, little pieces that you need to get into a tray feeder, which we have that solution, which we'll talk about shortly as well. But it really just look, I, I'm seeing a lot of automotive, a lot of consumer products. Uh, obviously automotive has always been big for us, but lately it feels to me like a lot of medical, a lot of consumer products.
Speaker 2 00:11:25 Uh, thank you for that, Chris. One of the things that, um, I'd like, I wanted to ask you specifically, can you tell us a little bit about the flexible feeding solution that you have?
Speaker 3 00:11:34 Sure. Yeah. And it, this is probably one of the, one of the coolest things that we've done in the last, I would say two to three years. And I, and I, and I'll be open about this too, in my region, which was eight states, we've kind of, we, we've parsed that down to five now because of some changes we've had with within our team, I would say of my business, it ended up being about at least a third to almost 40% of my business where what we did, we brought a tray feeder into the mix with our robot and our vision. And so we've taken all of that and we have created this tray feeder solutions basically called our in teleflex. We have an 80, a two 40, a three 80, and a five 30 size feeders. And so basically it's, it's a full solution, full package.
Speaker 3 00:12:20 And, and, and how it works is pretty simple, is we take parts and we put 'em on the feeder, and just as you would think with an ARO product or, uh, any random vision and a random robot, that's a solution that that's been around. But what we have done is we have, uh, taken this full solution and done all of the hard they call heavy lifting, right? So all of the algorithms line up, uh, we've done all that work, that's all in the, in our software, which, you know, we may talk about software in a bit, but to have all of that in one software, uh, where it's all talking before the customer even gets it. That point, once a customer receives it, then we're talking about, Hey, let's put the parts on. We can, we can do some simple calibrations. Uh, there is some work there involved, but at the end of it, you're, you're moving a lot quicker than you would if you were to piecemeal that, that solution versus having us provide the solution as a package.
Speaker 2 00:13:15 Scott, I, you know, it's funny cuz I'm kind of hearing from you time to market fast, simple, but now I'm hearing flexibility, right? And, and especially in parts feeding. That must be kind of an interesting piece for you guys to be able to put together this standard product.
Speaker 0 00:13:29 Yeah, a a absolutely. You know, I, to Chris's point, you could always build these solutions. You know, it's, you know, there's smart engineers out there. They take this, they take this, they make, you know, all the connective tissue work, you know, the protocols are running, it's all good. It's this time, it's time, it's support, it's troubleshooting all of those elements that if you've got the wherewithal and you've got the time, you can do that stuff. As you bring on new people into this industry, and even folks that have been doing this a long time, time is money. And so if you can make an integrated solution where it's close as possible to plug and play and you run, you turn some knobs and make it work for your application, that is enormous value. That is cost savings, that is time reduction, that is getting to market quicker.
Speaker 0 00:14:18 And to your point, uh, Jim, when you begin to weave in the flexibility that is needed, um, and why is it needed? It's needed because consumers are demanding it, you know, just, just go to Amazon and look around at pick your product, at how many different variations of anything you can get and how things change from year to year. So as a manufacturer, you're constantly being pressed to change and evolve. What you make today might not be the same thing you make next year. And if you've spent money in time on a static manufacturing line or sell, you're obsolete all of a sudden. So you've gotta be adaptable, you've gotta be flexible. Solutions like this, solutions like Inflex help integrators, end users be adaptable. They help them to be flexible and help them to change because everything changes. Um, and it is a tremendous value to be able to change quickly. And that's what that solution provides.
Speaker 2 00:15:14 And Chris kind of alluded to this too, right, is you slowly become as a software company, right, when you are creating these solutions that you're putting two or three things together, especially with vision, uh, you, so how you're marketing software now and what's that like?
Speaker 0 00:15:29 Uh, yeah, soft software is fundamental to what we do. Everything is, is evolves, is controlled, managed through that software. And so that, that ecosystem, that environment if you will, it is really central to, to our value proposition that we wanna make it easier for you. And we wanna make sure that it's not only easy, but it's powerful that it's got the tools that you need, whether you're advanced or you're beginning. So whether it's got a 3D simulator, uh, built into it that doesn't cost extra, or you've got troubleshooting capabilities through the code as you go through, or you've got access to manuals as as you run through and you wanna see what a given program syntex should be, um, or all these integrated solutions, whether it's vision or in Teleflex, it's all built in. And that is a tremendous value. And the fact that you get this, a customer buys a name, your robot, a GX four, they're getting the software when they, when they buy the robot, tremendous value. And so we're trying to break down barriers. We want, we want to make things easier. And it's, it's not because it's Epson wanting to do this. We absolutely do. We want to do it because our customers are asking for it. Customers are demanding this, and it's just increasing as more people come into this industry.
Speaker 2 00:16:50 It's very cool. Thank you very much for that. Uh, Chris, I can't just buy an Epson robot, right? I have to go through a distributor, right?
Speaker 3 00:16:56 You actually can come directly to a, uh, a regional sales manager and purchase a robot, but most of the team likes to work with distribution. The reason is that distribution's so close, you know, we're kind of spread out, you know, we have multiple states that we, that we have to manage and, and generally there's distributors and distribution through all of that. So it's better, it's best. I, you know, I like to work with my distributors, uh, because those guys can, can get to the customers super fast. So I, I like, I really like that they, plus they have other value add products that go, uh, along with what that, you know, those guys are the, have all of these other solutions that I wanna make sure that our customers, uh, have the opportunities to, to see that it all kind of comes together. When you work with distribution, it's very, they're very helpful. And all the ones that, that, that Epson works with are distributors that have, uh, been working with us for many years. They know our product lines very, very well. Uh, they've all been through tremendous amount of training and, um, so yeah, I, I tend to push towards, through distribution
Speaker 0 00:17:59 You in the market for a robot. I know a guy, I know a guy, man,
Speaker 3 00:18:03 <laugh>,
Speaker 2 00:18:03 I got some space in my garage, you know, I'm just thinking about it. Hey Scott, listen. So, uh, we're doing this right across, right around, uh, automate show. So what are, what am I gonna see at the, uh, Epson booth?
Speaker 0 00:18:15 Yeah, I, I, I'm, I'm excited. I know Chris is, uh, excited, you know, automates the big show. Um, you know, it's just walking onto that expo floor is just ginormous. I don't know, I, I, it's amazing how much stuff is there, you know, and everybody, you know, shows their, their words and all that. You know, what, what we are gonna be doing this year. And what we like to do is take people on a journey and the journey starts with our legacy. You know, we, we've been, we've been doing this for now, we're now in our fifth decade, uh, in automation and robotics. We are known in the industry as the precision automation specialists. You know, we're not the guys moving around the chassis or engine blocks or anything like that. We focus on customers that need fast, high precision robotics. They come to for that.
Speaker 0 00:19:04 That's where we've built our reputation. And so we've got that legacy. And that legacy's really important because there's so many newcomers coming into the market, you know, and they're coming in with exciting things and all that. When you're trusting your, your line, you're manufacturing, um, you know, millions of dollars of product, whatever you're building, you really are looking for that, uh, reliability and that, and that trust that we've built over that period of time. So we start our journey there. Before we get to technology or products, we, we understand what our customers are doing. And, and at that point, we start to talk about the industry expertise we have. So we're leaders in life sciences, electronics, automotive, consumer products, as Chris mentioned, that's been taking off. Um, we have a team with a combined thousand plus years of, of experience. And that experience is, is able to be leveraged by our customers.
Speaker 0 00:19:54 So as they're coming in and they're looking for, what do I do here, or how do I build that up, or how do I fix this? They've, they've got that with Epson. And that's something that we are able to impart and help people on, on their journey. And from there, you get to applications. Chris mentioned a whole bunch that, that, that we're seeing. You know, of course you've got parts feeding and, uh, kit and palletizing, et cetera, assembly load, unload. But once you know that industry, and once you've, you've discussed the legacy that we have and the expertise, then it gets down to, okay, so let me show you some examples of what we do. We broke our exhibit, uh, into two key areas. Um, the first is our high precision area. And so people often think of Epson as the printer guys or the watch guys.
Speaker 0 00:20:38 We talked about watches earlier. Um, but what they, what they often don't know is that we're dynamic and vertically integrated, and courts is central to what we do. And that court that we manufacture ourselves is put into our micro devices. Um, we've got an accelerometer team, a, um, a motion detection team, a timing team. We use that technology to build technology for our robots. So we'll be talking about a technology called Gyro Plus at, and Gyro Plus is a vibration reduction technology. And that's really important for, for this industry because if you talk to anybody that's in motion control, they'll immediately tell you about, about the issues they have with vibration when they move fast, when they're trying to hit a certain tolerance or precision level. Now you're moving fast and you need to move the other direction. And people are overshooting, they're ringing to hit that, uh, performance requirement.
Speaker 0 00:21:33 They need to slow down the robot. What we have is a gyro sensor built by Epson, patented by Epson in the arm of our scar and six axis robots that provides a feedback of motion to our motion controls in the controller, automatically making real-time adjustments. And so we're able to hit precision targets that nobody else can. That's something that's really unique to Epson. And so we've got this whole area talking about jairo plus, where it fits in our robots and the different technologies that, that we're employing to, to utilize that. And that will be shown on a bunch of different robots in, in a number of different areas. Then we have a second area that focuses on, on ease of use. Uh, so we've talked a lot about this, this, uh, segment of the market that's coming in, new users, folks getting started, and even people that have been in this market for a while in this industry for a while, they're looking for, how do I get up and running quicker?
Speaker 0 00:22:25 How do I get my project running faster? We talked about in Teleflex, we'll certainly be showing that, but also our T series, which is our entry level scaa and our VT series, our entry level six access robot. So under $8,000 under $15,000. And you get the software with it. And that software that we really wanna show people, certainly RC plus is running on everything, but we also showcase RC plus Express. So it's an interactive, uh, display. People can come up, they can, they can play with it, they can see how it runs, they can move blocks around. So it's really interactive, it's really fun. And so for people that are, are getting into this industry, that are looking for something that is, um, uh, easy to begin with and also easy for to use for simple applications, this is an exciting one. And so we're really, uh, looking forward to showcasing that at this, uh, at this exhibition.
Speaker 2 00:23:18 Well, that sounds very cool, Chris, I was gonna talk to you from the boots on the ground guy, and my question is, is kind of a little bit about, um, why has Epson been so successful from your lens?
Speaker 3 00:23:29 So, you know, e epson's a, you know, Scott touched on it, you know, we're a technology company. It's a, it's, it's kind of different. When you look at the landscape of automate, you're seeing a lot of, you know, a lot of automation ancillary products, uh, from sensors to, you know, breaks to just all ki uh, you know, all, even the, even the other robot companies, conveyor companies, they, they tend to be specifically a company that manufactures that Absent is a, a, a vast company of all kinds of technology products. And we tend to bring a lot of that technology into a lot of our products. You know, Scott was also kind of touching on that, but you know, the, as a technology company and one that's vertically integrated, that saves our customers a lot of time and money, everything except for just a couple components are all made in Japan.
Speaker 3 00:24:20 Uh, so it's, and it's, you know, so we have a very, uh, obviously good dialogue with Japan. We're constantly shipping from Japan. Uh, so there's, you know, that all works really well. I think a couple things here. You know, we, we as a team, when we start to drill down on the robotics team, we always tell customers, you know, we do what we say we're gonna do. And I've seen that since day one. You know, I just, I just, I just, uh, hit my fourth year here with Epson. And I think, I think the other thing that, that, you know, a lot of people will say this, but I can truly say this, and it's been this way for, since I've known the team at Epson. When I, before, way before I was, you know, lucky enough to join the company. We have great people and I've known it for 25 years. You know, um, you might have an individual that has a great sales year, but there's hundreds of people behind that individual that has helped that person to get to that point. So, you know, when that happens, it's the people. So not only is it the people, obviously it goes all the way through to our customers. And our customers appreciate that they see that. And uh, and I think that's why they continue to keep coming back to us.
Speaker 2 00:25:24 I think you've got very loyal customer base too, cuz of course I came from industry as well. And so, and I know that because, uh, I've seen a lot of epson's in, uh, factories both on, on both sides in the integration side and on the factory side. I wanted to ask you both a question too. It's May, 2023. Uh, I wanted to find out kind of what business climate is from your perspective. Chris, I'm gonna, because you, you got boots on the ground. Uh, how's, how are things? You know,
Speaker 3 00:25:49 I don't think you could say it's been any better. I mean, it just feels, you know, before Covid obviously things were moving along very, very well. But you know, what you think about robotics, I mean, through covid actually, unfortunately it was really difficult situation. We all went through it, it helped our company in that businesses and companies found themselves needing to figure out a way. They just had to find that way. And so I think as they looked at automation, and maybe you've probably heard this a lot, what they, what they went towards what whatever type of automation that was, whether it be a robot involved or some form of automation, customers had to figure out a way to perform. The, the idea here for us is that we've made our robots, our, our equipment, our software, everything easy to use. So it's easy to understand training's important. Um, but we've made it that way. So even way down to the entry level companies, you know, they can, they can learn, they can understand it, and they can get up and running and quick back and, and, you know, obviously back in business or even to make their business move faster and, uh, more profitable.
Speaker 2 00:26:53 And Scott, your thoughts too, cuz you, you talk a lot in the industry like me, about, uh, about the industry from your perspective.
Speaker 0 00:26:59 Yeah, it's, uh, Chris is spot on. You know, it's, it's, uh, kind of maybe come down to, to reality a little bit. You know, it depends on, on what data set you look at. If you're looking at, you know, uh, you know, from a, um, uh, an analytical perspective and, and certainly, you know, Chris, uh, you know, being, uh, an account manager, you know, he's boo he's boots on the ground. So he's, he's seeing it, you know, right down, uh, right down at ground level. But it, it's mixed. It's, it, it's, you've got companies that, that have demand. Uh, demand is still really high out there. Uh, people are still buying stuff, but the cost capital's gone up, you know, the cost to, uh, to get new things has, has gone up. People bought, bought a lot over the last years. There were, there was a lot of, lot of, lot of cheap money, a lot of available money.
Speaker 0 00:27:44 Uh, and now, now people are looking to see, you know, what they can get away with. You know, they still need a demand of consumers and make products, but do they need to put that new line on? And so people are, I think, you know, looking at how do we adjust our mindset? How do we look at a more sustainable, efficient mindset so we can shelter profits from potentially eroding demand as inflation continues to go up. But then on the flip side, you've got, you've got labor still as a challenge. You know, we still have high employment and manufacturers are looking for ways to meet the needs of production. And automation is a key element to that conversation. It's truly mixed. It's not like it was coming outta covid where it's like if you had a robot, people were buying and you couldn't keep 'em on the shelf. Now people are, are really, you know, scrutinizing the decision a bit more. But long term it's, I'm so bullish about this market, this is such an exciting place for people to be. And, uh, you know, no matter what you're, you're doing in automation, it, it's just a really exciting space to be long term.
Speaker 2 00:28:46 And Epson from a supply chain. Uh, I was gonna get, uh, maybe you can both comment on that, uh, because you are vertically integrated and you're producing a lot of the internal components, even the chip sets, right? Are you, do, do you guys make your own chips?
Speaker 0 00:28:59 Uh, we, some of 'em, some of 'em, mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, you know, we, we try to manufacture as much as we can. Uh, we try to bring on things that have risk. You know, like any good manufacturer you look at, you look at your manufacturing line and you know, if I can, uh, get something cheaper elsewhere and it's, you know, I, I can get a bunch of 'em or put 'em in inventory, great. If it's something that is gonna, you know, slow everything up, it's a deal breaker and maybe it's something I need to bring online. So that's something Epson continually looks at. But, you know, from our perspective, we've, you know, done a, i I think over the past few years we've done an admirable job. Um, keeping in line with inventory, making sure we can get product out, making sure that we can meet demand. We're not immune to the challenges that are out there. They're still there. You know, there's still backlogs. Um, there are still boards, some chips that are external that are, that are difficult to get, that hasn't changed. The logistics, you know, have certainly improved, but it's gotten more expensive. You know, gas is expensive. Um, you know, inflation's still high, so costs have gone up. But you know, all, all in, it's certainly better than it was a, a, a couple of years ago. But the challenges still exist. They're still out there.
Speaker 2 00:30:06 I wanna thank you both for coming onto the, uh, podcast today, uh, especially since we're gonna see each other next week. Um, did we forget to talk about anything?
Speaker 3 00:30:14 I, I don't think so, Jim. I, I appreciate it and, and actually wanted to thank you for the opportunity to, to be on today. Uh, I, you know, the robot industry podcast has been something that, uh, has been great that you've done that, that you've been able to bring, um, you know, technology to all of the listeners that when they're taking a walk or when they're, you know, uh, doing whatever they would do, taking a drive when they're driving somewhere, it, it's really, really cool just to, uh, stay close to what's happening out there. So there's a major appreciation for what you've done. It's been amazing. I really appreciate it. I know you and I are, are close. Uh, we've been for a long, many, you know, long time. But, uh, probably from everyone out there, we'd like to say thank you for all the work that you've done.
Speaker 2 00:30:59 Oh, thanks Chris. That's really touching. Hey, I'm, uh, you know what, I'm gonna <laugh> I'm gonna ask this, uh, Chris, for you, how can people get ahold if they wanna find out more information? Should I ask the marketer or the sales guy? Uh, what's the best way to get more information about, um, about your robots at Epson?
Speaker 3 00:31:15 I think you can go right to our website. You know, the general epson.com is the first place to start, and then you can start to, uh, go into the, the section it says for work, and then you can find robots, then you can work your way down there. Um, and we're easy to find on that page. You'll be able to see distribution, you'll be able to see the, uh, uh, the regional managers and then I would go from there.
Speaker 2 00:31:38 Well, thank you, Scott. Thank you Chris. And, um, we will see you in Detroit.
Speaker 3 00:31:42 Sounds great. Thanks Jim. Thanks.
Speaker 2 00:31:44 Our sponsor for this episode is Earhart Automation Systems. Earhart builds and commissions turnkey solutions for their worldwide clients. With over 80 years of precision manufacturing. They understand the complex world of robotics, automated manufacturing and project management, delivering world class custom automation on time and on budget. Contact one of their sales engineers to see what Earhart can build for you. And Earhart is spelled E H R H A R D T, and their email address is info airhart automation.com. And I'd like to acknowledge a three, the Association for Advancing Automation. They are the leading automation trade association for robotics, vision and imaging, motion control and motors, and the industrial artificial intelligence technologies. Visit automate.org to learn more. And I'd like to thank Painted Robot. They build and integrate digital solutions. They're a web development firm that offers seo, digital and social marketing, and can connect CRM and other e r P tools to unify marketing, sales, and operations. You can find
[email protected]. And if you'd like to get in touch with us at the Robot Industry Podcast, you can find me, Jim Beretta on LinkedIn. We'll see you in Detroit at the Automated show, and today's podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing. And I'd like to thank Chris Gray for the music, Jeffrey Bremner for audio production, my business partner Janet, and our sponsor, Airhart Automation Systems.
