Northwest Aerospace News June | July Issue No. 3 | Page 53

CENTER OF EXCELLENCE SPOTLIGHT
In general, he said they have a very
common-sense approach to technology
adoption now. They have recently added
a robot that feeds bushings into a CNC
lathe, and he said he can see adding
more robots for repetitive motion jobs.
But he noted, “People have been talking
about robots for a long, long time. The
automotive industry has had robots for
a long time. For the aerospace industry
– it’s a big investment.” He added that
the costs are not only in the purchase
of the robots, but in programming and
maintaining the robot. They recently
hired their first mechatronics technician
from Everett Community College as an
addition to their machine maintenance
group. This group will eventually be
responsible for maintaining robots as
they are brought on site.
“Robots can be $200,000 each depend-
ing on capability and function; it’s a
lot of money. It’s a serious financial
commitment,” Washburn said.
Outside of robots in the factory, we dis-
cussed some of the administrative func-
tions of the company such as bidding,
project management, and training. He
said that he isn’t seeing a big technolo-
gy leap in how they bid or manage proj-
ects, but they have spent some money
and invested in a learning management
system (LMS) for training staff.
Washburn said he did research on
several LMS systems to find one that
would work for them, and he believes
they are one of the only aerospace
manufacturing companies in the area
with one. Regarding staff training on
the mobile-friendly LMS, he said if a
machine is down, employees will come
into the training center to watch videos
on their training center computers. He
added, “They watch it as time allows;
about 80% of training is online, 20% on
equipment.”
What technology changes does Washburn see in the future?
“In the next five years, I see more robots on the shop floor, mixed in with people.
When people think of robots they think of a factory that is void of human beings; I
see mostly people, with a few robots doing the repetitive work. Repetitive motion
jobs speak to the areas where robots will shine — the same part over and over,”
Washburn said. At AMT Senior Aerospace, they produce tens of thousands of parts,
and Washburn said they still need support from humans. He said that not all work
should be done with technology, and in his training, he spends much of his time
training people with soft skills like communication, and punctuality. He said if an
ROI can be proven on purchasing equipment, robotic or technology-based, they will
look at it.
We are hearing other companies that are in a similar place. Washington’s aerospace
manufacturers are evaluating what is available to them and looking into applications
that will help the company to become more profitable.
JUNE | JULY 2018 ISSUE NO. 3
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