When Our Competitors Offshored, We Invested in Our People...and Automation

Our next Why I Automate video tells the story about Engineered Machine Products (EMP) based in Escanaba, Michigan. EMP is a leading manufacturer of machined products and energy savings systems.

This is another great story about how a company could have made an easy decision to save money and offshore the manufacturing of their products, along with jobs, overseas. This was in fact what many of their competitors did. Instead, they decided to invest in their people and automation.

Investing in automation allowed the company to be more nimble; offering the opportunity to redeploy their advanced manufacturing systems to react to customer needs. Integrating robots and other advanced manufacturing technologies into their operations was in fact a competitive advantage for the company.

“Robots are so versatile, so flexible that we’ve been able to cost effectively re-commission them to do different jobs,” said Adam Veeser, Automation Engineer.

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Like any small company introducing change into their operations, some employees feared that automation may take their jobs. But at EMP, the opposite was true. “We’ve seen jobs grow, and that’s very important; not only for this community, but for the State of Michigan,” added Jerry Guindon, Vice President of Sales & Customer Service.

Some of EMP’s customers are now bringing product back from overseas. EMP’s investment in automation and their dedication to manufacturing in America put the company in a great position to win more business. And they now ship product overseas, helping our own economy.

Automation works! And the future of EMP is very bright.

Special thanks to FANUC America for sponsoring this video.