Business

Lights Out: Technology and Automation Podcast by MakingChips

by Nick Goellner

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Most automation conversations stop at the cell. This one keeps going, through a fab shop, a machine shop, a Department of Defense contract, and eventually a coal mine. Michael McHale runs PSA Systems, an automation integrator in…
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Every shop runs on a little tribal knowledge, the person who just knows where that tray of parts is headed and where it tends to get stuck. It works right up until they take a day off and the whole floor is hunting for a job that vanished…

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Inside Conexus Indiana: The Industry Network Driving Manufacturing Tech and Talent

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Most shops picture automation the same way. A robot arm bolted to a machine, a green button, and a quiet promise that you can finally walk out the door at night. This episode takes that picture apart, and what replaces it is a lot more…
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Every shop owner has stared at a floor full of expensive machines and thought the same thing: I need more capacity. More people. A second shift. Maybe another spindle. But the honest answer, most of the time, is that you already own the…
Before You Buy Another Spindle, Use the Ones You Have

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Every shop wants the shiny new machine. Walk a showroom floor like the one at ZOLLER's Technology Days in Ann Arbor and it's hard not to feel like a kid in a candy store. But the most useful question on this episode isn't which spindle to…
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Part 2 of Lights Out Lenses moves deeper into the automation journey at Advanced Machine & Fabricating—this time through the eyes of engineering, programming, quality, and ownership. If Part 1 was about feeding the beast, Part 2 is about…
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What does automation actually look like when you're in the middle of it—not from a vendor demo or a conference stage, but inside a real shop, with real constraints, real people, and real stakes? This episode of Lights Out kicks off a new…