Walk into Otis Technology’s manufacturing facility in Lyons Falls, N.Y., and a couple of things quickly strike you. One is the cleanliness of the production floor, a point of pride whose origins date back to well before the company became formally acquainted with lean manufacturing and 5S in 2009.
"Our facility is probably as clean as some pharmaceutical companies," says Harold Philbrick, director of operations at Otis Technology, which manufactures gun-cleaning systems.
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Also hard to miss are the autonomous mobile robots that scoot about the manufacturing space, seemingly without a human assist. Programmed to play music as they move about—anything from bagpipes to the Zac Brown Band—the robots deliver to and retrieve materials from employees working on the production floor.
"They are a pretty big hit with guests," Philbrick says.
More importantly, the ADAM robots by RMT Robotics free up time for employees to make product rather than spend it in search of materials. They also illustrate one way in which automation is aiding the manufacturer’s lean journey.
