Speaker 0 00:00:00 We think critically, we come to a problem and we, we try and solve it the best way possible. We're always thinking on our feet. Um, we're always open to change and new, new methods to do things. So that's, that's definitely helped us, uh, keep up with the trends.
Speaker 2 00:00:19 Hello everyone and welcome to the Robot Industry Podcast. We're glad you're here. And thank you for subscribing. I'm Jim Beretta, and our guest for this podcast edition is Calvin Humira. We are here at ETHOS Automation. He is one of the co-founders of ethos. Uh, welcome to the podcast, Calvin.
Speaker 0 00:00:34 Thanks, Jim. I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 2 00:00:36 Hey, listen, tell me a little bit about how you got here. Uh, where did you go to school? Where were you working before you started Ethos?
Speaker 0 00:00:43 So, my road to Starting Ethos, uh, started all really far back. Um, this is back when I was deciding on, uh, secondary education. I originally was supposed to go to university. I decided against that really last minute. About two weeks before I was supposed to start. Uh, I decided to switch out of university and then go to college. So in that process, I looked through Hum college's list of programs. I found an robotics and automation program, and, and it sounded cool. So I, I had to call up the coordinator, beg him to let me in, and he allowed me to go to the course. Uh, honestly, the course was really down my alley. It, it nailed a lot of things as far as what I like, what I'm good at. Um, at the end of that program, I, I got a job at Magna. Uh, it's a large tier one automotive, uh, supplier.
Speaker 0 00:01:34 Uh, from there, uh, within the company, I learned a lot about automation, robotics, um, just generally how the industry works. Um, about two years after that, I got a good opportunity to go become a contractor. So when I was a contractor, I was programming robots and PLCs on new equipment. Um, during that time, I got to meet a lot of people, learn a lot about the industry, how, um, machines are built, um, just about the processes. Um, after that, uh, I met one of my partners and that's when we got together and, and formed Ethos. And, uh, we've been doing this for about four years now, and it's, uh, been a lot of work getting into where we are now.
Speaker 2 00:02:16 The lot of processes and a lot of things you have to think about when you're building robots and building automation.
Speaker 0 00:02:20 Oh man, there's so much, there's so many different trades we have to think about. Uh, it, it's a lot, but it's not too much that we can't handle, uh, every day. You know, we, we face it. We have new challenges, but we, we think critically we come to a problem and we, we try and solve it the best way possible. We're always thinking on our feet. Um, we're always open to change new, new methods to do things. So that's, that's definitely helped us, uh, keep up with the trends.
Speaker 2 00:02:46 And I think one of the most important things when you're building an industrial automation company is about team building. I bet you that's something that you never really thought about, right? There's not a big course about at Uh hum.
Speaker 0 00:02:57 Uh, yeah, you're, you're, you're right there, there, there's definitely no course in teaching how to build a team. Uh, but I mean, from the contractor side, I, I definitely have to be in the middle between, you know, project managers and the robots and the controls guide. So you definitely have to learn how to work with people. Um, and, and that comes to light. Here we have, you know, every different type of trades. You have electricians, mechanics, you got controls, uh, guys, robot guys. Um, and we all have to work together. All these projects are very team orientated, so everyone has to work cohesively. Um, it's, it's been hard getting everyone together, but I, I think our team here is really good. Um, we're all working towards the same goal and we all understand that.
Speaker 2 00:03:42 And probably one of the interesting things that you take away from some of your Magna experience and your contracting experience was, Hey, I'm gonna build this tool this way. I want to, I want to think about the maintenance guy or the maintenance woman, right?
Speaker 0 00:03:54 Yeah. I have a unique experience of seeing the other side. Uh, being in, being in maintenance really allowed me to see what doesn't work. If I, if I'd go to a machine and I'd have to fix it four times for the same thing, I knew never to let that happen again. So those were, those were definitely things that I saw and then, like, it stuck with me. So that, that helps. Uh, I bring that into like what we do at Ethos to make sure we think about like maintenance, friendliness, and make sure that things are easy to repair.
Speaker 2 00:04:22 No, that's makes total sense. And, and you probably in your design with starting your design, you go, don't do it that way. Cause how is the guy gonna get in there or the woman gonna get in there and repair that end of arm tool or whatever it is. We,
Speaker 0 00:04:34 We try our best, but sometimes, uh, there's no option. Sometimes it's just
Speaker 2 00:04:39 Sucks. So you've had like a whirlwind four years of starting ethos, getting your team together and, and delivering automation.
Speaker 0 00:04:47 Yeah. Um, we started, it was a very small team. It was under five people. Um, since then, I think we've been growing at about, you know, about one person every two months, roughly, I'd say. And it, and it's been, uh, been a lot of work getting us here, uh, adding different trades. Every time you add a different, like department, let's call it, you have different procedures you have to start up and work on. Um, and then just learning how to convey information to your whole team effectively. It is, uh, a lot of different pain points and we're, we're trying to tackle them one by one.
Speaker 2 00:05:22 So can you describe some of the types of automation that you're building?
Speaker 0 00:05:26 Uh, right now our, one of our, uh, key areas is within automotive. So that's mostly, uh, welding technologies, som welding, spot welding, projecting and welding. Um, that's kind of the industry that we came from. So it's, uh, just something we naturally fell into. Um, other than that, we have some other, uh, projects outside of automotive that are, uh, a little bit different
Speaker 2 00:05:50 And automotive's tough, right? Because terms are tough. Uh, deliveries are, are very strategic for them. They, they can't, they have p pap dates that they have to meet. Uh, what are some of the other things that you see in automotive?
Speaker 0 00:06:02 Automotive is hard. It's an interesting one. I kind of compare it to high school where everything is due yesterday, everyone's late. People just forget little projects here and there. So, um, it's something that we kind of got used to though. Um, I would say it's also really good for us to start there. Um, because of their tight timelines, their stringent, uh, build standards, it's kind of bringing us up to make sure our level of, uh, quality is higher. So it's, it's helped us definitely, um, put in a good
Speaker 2 00:06:33 Product. And this will help you as you expand into other areas of industrial automation like, uh, packaging and food and all other areas. Cause if you can build for automotive, you can build for almost any industry.
Speaker 0 00:06:45 Yeah, that, that's for sure. We definitely bring over some standards that we've learned, uh, within the automotive world. And if we're gonna apply that to other industries, maybe industries that don't actually have, uh, very strange and build standards or a knowhow will, will take our knowledge that we've learned within automotive and bring that elsewhere.
Speaker 2 00:07:01 Are there any specific tools or technologies that you're seeing now that maybe you weren't seeing when you've got started?
Speaker 0 00:07:08 Uh, a big push that we've been seeing lately is a lot more on the, the quality side. Um, this is a lot more on the validation and quality where, where customers really want to see that their products are coming out, right exactly the same every time. So, uh, big one that we've worked on in the past is, uh, to do with MIG welding. They, they want to see not only did the robot weld, but what's the quality of it. Um, they want to make sure that nothing happened during the process. Uh, it really hurts a customer if, if a robot misses a weld for some reason, even one part out of a thousand can hurt them very
Speaker 2 00:07:42 Much. So what kind of technologies would it be using for that? Would it be machine vision?
Speaker 0 00:07:47 Uh, I've seen a mixture. Uh, I've seen, uh, vision based systems. We've seen laser based systems. Um, those are the main two.
Speaker 2 00:07:56 And you recently covered in a magazine with Siemens. Can you tell me a little bit about that and does that fit within the quality?
Speaker 0 00:08:02 Uh, I would say yeah, it does fit within the quality. That's more quality on the machine builder side. Uh, we use, uh, matics, uh, process simulate from Siemens that helps us simulate all our systems beforehand so that when we go to the build phase of our equipment, we know exactly how it's supposed to work. We've seen it in 3D in full motion. Uh, it also helps with our, the speed of commissioning. We're able to, uh, create OLP for our robots, um, download those into the robots. And then right from the get go, the robot has a prebuilt program that should be pretty accurate to, to the CAD world versus the real world.
Speaker 2 00:08:41 And so this is kind of the digital twin of manufacturing automation, right? Where you can do and your, is your customers, are they kind of almost expecting it now that you're doing it?
Speaker 0 00:08:50 The simulation side? Yeah, they're definitely expecting it. Uh, it gives everyone a little bit of comfort knowing that, hey, we've all seen this thing work. It's not just in Excel sheet anymore, where the Excel sheet's saying, Yeah, the, the machine should run it a hundred seconds, uh, part to part cycle time where we're now seeing a video live of it working. And it really picks up on those, those little niches where, you know, maybe a robot has interference with each other and we're able to pick that up in the video and account for that.
Speaker 2 00:09:19 So you're really experts within robotics and experts within welding and welding processes. Are you seeing any other trends there? Um, maybe add-on accessories or anything, uh, for your, the automation that you're building.
Speaker 0 00:09:32 Uh, within automotive, we're seeing a lot of different joining technologies. Uh, with the new, new cars that are coming forward more, the EVs uh, the construction of the car is just slightly different. So they're, they're just different joining technologies, seeing a little bit more of, um, application of, uh, adhesion. So gluing applications and a lot more different, uh, a lot of different materials using as well, a lot more aluminum.
Speaker 2 00:09:57 So do you find that you're working with your tier ones ahead of the automation? Uh, doing a lot of, um, like concurrent engineering, even before automation hits,
Speaker 0 00:10:08 Uh, it's very close knit relationship between us and our customer. Uh, it's is good that way. Um, it's collectively a team effort that they have the goal of getting the machine going on their floor. We have the same goal and as long as we work as a team together, uh, it ends up being a good project.
Speaker 2 00:10:25 So are you seeing parts getting, I was gonna say bigger or smaller, but you're seeing parts maybe getting more complex?
Speaker 0 00:10:31 Yeah, definitely. The more complex, different joining technologies, It's weird auto, like some ev parts aluminum ends up being sometimes simpler cuz they're more square. Yeah, more complex for sure. Um, with the addition of different joining technologies that brings in different methods of quality validation per item. Uh, so we're, you're gonna have parts that have, uh, adhesion. So we're gonna have different systems to pick up, did that process, uh, finish correctly. And that might mean we're adding in different vision technologies and laser technologies all into the same, uh, overall system, which just adds the complexity of one machine.
Speaker 2 00:11:11 So are projects getting, uh, simpler or are they getting more complex to them?
Speaker 0 00:11:16 Everything's getting more complex. Uh, we keep moving forward with different technologies, so we keep adding new technologies to the line. Uh, before there might only be one camera on a line checking, like one part number being present like the, a date stamp let's say. But now we're, we're doing cameras all over the line checking for, uh, certain items on the part itself. Um, there's other laser based systems checking if welds are being done. So the overall data capture on these lines are going up for sure.
Speaker 2 00:11:50 Well, just before we have this interview, I had the opportunity to walk around your shop and thank you for that tour. Uh, I noticed that the robots are getting bigger. Is that just my imagination and I see end of arm tools are getting bigger too.
Speaker 0 00:12:02 Uh, they're, they're getting a little bit bigger. Uh, definitely. Um, robots are somewhat oversized for their, their project. Um, it's, it's good to oversize our robot cuz future use, you never know what the robot might do after this project. Uh, it kind of protects for the future if that robot needs to work on a different project that's gonna have a bigger product.
Speaker 2 00:12:24 And C'S been a real, uh, problem for everyone and especially in the automation industry. How has Covid kind of affected ethos and affected your end customer?
Speaker 0 00:12:34 Oh man, it has definitely been an interesting one. Uh, procurement of parts is really hard right now where there's certain product lines and, and suppliers that we just cannot get parts from. So collectively between the customer and us, we've been, uh, working on using recondition hearts, so recondition robots, potentially reconditions controllers and PLCs. Um, and we don't really see an end yet. Um, a lot of parts are still like an entire year lead time and that's really affecting, uh, what we're able to build. Uh, pre covid. I would say two weeks was a very long lead time. Now two weeks is, is fast. Wow. Two weeks is a fast lead time. We're, we're now seeing like the average lead time to be a month if not longer. And that really affects our ability to, to work quickly. I guess the, the learning to that is we, we've got a lot better at planning or purchasing, uh, well in advance. So essentially right when the projects kicked off, we go over what are the key items that we have to bring in house, when can we get them, where can we get them? And we're really strategizing behind that. Um, so it is definitely affected us.
Speaker 2 00:13:51 And so you have to get much more creative about supply chain where you never had to before. Right?
Speaker 0 00:13:56 Very creative. Uh, honestly, every avenue's open now. You, you're looking at online vendors, different suppliers, different regions. You, you really have to open it up. Cause some of these projects you could be waiting on one little item and without that one little item, the whole project doesn't work. So getting that one thing is very important.
Speaker 2 00:14:16 Um, are you finding that customers, if I change the conversation a little bit, uh, customers are needing more help and more training? Uh, when you go to deployment?
Speaker 0 00:14:26 Uh, really depends on the customer. Um, within the automotive world, they have a pretty robust, um, maintenance team and we make sure before the project gets kicked off that we're, we're building a piece of equipment that they know and they understand. So it's not, it's not like they're getting a new, um, brand new piece of equipment that no one knows how to use. So they do that. I would say, um, customers outside of automotive, uh, that don't really have their own build standard, that's when training will be, um, required. We also try and make sure that we, we tailor the machines and build them accordingly to the customer. Making sure they're easy to use, uh, maintenance friendly. Those are everything we have to plan for in the engineering phase.
Speaker 2 00:15:09 And you're, you're growing, you're taking on some bigger projects. You, you've got some projects now on your floor with 20 robots plus, right?
Speaker 0 00:15:16 The next big project? Yeah. It's, uh, install of about 22 robots, uh, in total. Uh, it's a, it's a big one to take under, but I think we're gonna be able pull that one off very well.
Speaker 2 00:15:28 Nice. And um, Calvin, what do you see as some of the things that are gonna happen in the, in the future for industrial automation and for Ethos automation?
Speaker 0 00:15:37 Um, the future, I see, uh, a lot of things happening. Um, as tech gets cheaper, uh, we're seeing like the, the size of hmis just a, a little one for everyone on machines. They're getting much larger. Uh, before we used to see just small little 10 inch h HMI screens that are very, that are not responsive at all. And, and now it's kind of standard to see 15 plus inch screens very user friendly to everyone out there. It's, uh, it's a lot more what they're used to. Especially everyone has a giant iPad. It's, it's just what they're used to. Um, on the technology side, everything's getting more compact as well. We're seeing, uh, the average panel size, it's just a lot smaller. We're able to fit a lot more devices in there.
Speaker 2 00:16:23 Are you seeing a lot more interest from your customers? Uh, uh, investing in data?
Speaker 0 00:16:28 Yeah. I definitely do see that. They, they want systems to have the ability to spit out data for them. They, they're gonna be picking up a lot more data on just if parts pass or fail. And instead of just getting a a, a single uh, signal saying part is good, they're gonna want a whole kind of package of data. This part passed along with certain parameters being sent with it. So it's, it's a lot, a lot more in depth. This is a rich set of data we're getting.
Speaker 2 00:16:56 So does that mean that ETHOS Automation has to invest in people that have those core capabilities? So like almost an IT people for your automation system?
Speaker 0 00:17:04 Yeah. Controls and PLC work is getting a lot closer to it. Really understanding the infrastructure between like, um, networking, It's, it's definitely become a requirement.
Speaker 2 00:17:15 And where are you looking to hire too? Cause I'm assuming that as you grow, you're gonna need more core capabilities within your company.
Speaker 0 00:17:23 Yeah, uh, we're kind of always looking, uh, across many different trades. Uh, we're looking for machine builders, uh, controls staff, robot, robotic staff, um, good mechanical designers, um, project management. Uh, it's honestly as we grow, we kind of have to grow all side, all divisions at the same time. Um, it is really hard one when you have to hire everyone at the same time.
Speaker 2 00:17:48 Well, thank you for that. Thanks for coming on the podcast. Uh, Calvin, what do you like to do when you're not, uh, programming robots?
Speaker 0 00:17:55 Oh, wow. When I'm not here. Um, I mean, it depends on the season. In the winter, I'm definitely avid snowboarder. I go all over a place. Snowboard haven't been as much lately, sadly. Um, outside of that travel, that's a, that's a big one. Um, it's nice that I get to travel with work sometimes. It doesn't always take me to the nicest places, but at least it's out, out and get to see new things.
Speaker 2 00:18:20 And, uh, how can people get in touch with you? If they'd like to learn more about Ethos Automation,
Speaker 0 00:18:25 Uh, always reach out to us, uh, our contact infos on our website, ethos automation.com.
Speaker 2 00:18:31 Thanks for coming in.
Speaker 0 00:18:32 Thanks Jeff.
Speaker 2 00:18:34 Our sponsor for this episode is Airhart Automation Systems. Airhart builds end commissions turnkey automated 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 Airhart can build for you at
[email protected]. And airhart is spelled E H R H A R dt. I'd like to thank our partner A three. They're 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 like to recognize our partner painted robot. Painted robot builds and integrates digital solutions. They're a web development firm that offers seo, digital social marketing, and can set up and connect CRM and other e r p tools to unify marketing, sales, and operations. And 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 next time. Thanks for listening. Be safe out there. Today's podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing, and I'd like to recognize by nephew Chris Gray for the music, Jeffrey Bremner for audio production. My partner Janet and our partners, a three painted robot and our sponsor, Ahart Automation Systems.
