CHARLOTTE, N.C. – As Biesse prepares to host two 2018 Tech Tours in Italy, past participants helped explain why the experience proved so valuable to their business. Those participants saw advanced production facilities and had the chance to experience levels of automation that can’t be found in North America.
“It’s a direction that we want to go,” said Chervin production manager John Klassen, whose company is a leading custom kitchen & hotel furniture manufacturer based in Ontario, Canada. “We’ve often heard over in North America that Europe is ahead of us as far as technology goes. That’s one reason why I (went on the tour). I (saw) what are they doing, and what are they doing differently. Because I want to learn all I can.”
Mark Cutshaw of North Dakota-based Wood Products Inc. echoed Klassen’s sentiments on the advanced level of operations witnessed on the Tech Tour.
“The Europeans are already in Industry 4.0 moving forward and we’re probably in Industry 1.5 or 2.0 for the most part in the United States,” Cutshaw said. “It was good to see that first-hand two years prior to it coming over here. Now you see it at IWF and AWFS, that’s when they’re really starting to talk about robotics and things like that.”
Biesse's robotic sortation is a prime example of Industry 4.0 automation that attendees were able to see during the most recent Tech Tour. This allows manufacturers the ability to increase their batch size to be more random and achieve a better yield while lowering the cost of production.
“The manufacturing tours exceeded our expectation by spurring the imagination while also proving realities in action,” National Office Furniture plant manager Scott Berger said.
In 2018, Biesse brand sales manager Jason Varelli and VP of sales Randy Jamison will once again lead Tech Tour attendees on a journey through Italy.
Space is limited for Biesse’s 2018 Tech Tours. The Spring Tech Tour is scheduled for the week of May 10 with a registration deadline of April 6. The Fall Tech Tour will be held the week of Oct.13 and the deadline to register is Aug. 31.
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