Edgewater Automation

Congratulations, Ashley Tanksley and Daniel Fairchild, for achieving certification in machine building from the U.S. Department of Labor OCIO through the apprenticeship program at Lake Michigan College. 8,000 hours of full-time, hands-on learning a craft while attending college at the same time- a tall order! You did it while excelling in your profession, and we couldn't be prouder of you. Edgewater's Jim Mercier said, "I've known Ashley since she was a little girl. She had zero experience when she walked in here, a male-dominated field. She came in head down, worked hard, and proved she could do the job and do it well. By her third year, she was running several projects at once. She's helped bring others up, too." "Edgewater's been a good place to learn. It's okay to make mistakes here, learn from them, ask someone how I can do it better, and move forward. I am a FIRST Robotics 5535 alumni and this was an excellent place for me. I look forward to the new challenges that come with building a new machine that has not been created before," says Daniel. Ashley, who followed in the footsteps of her father Todd Tanksley says:"I'm grateful for the people I worked with who have been patient with me as I learned the trade. I still learn every single time I work on a machine. I'm amazed at the machines I've worked on. When I started, I had tools I didn't even know what they were for. Within two years, I built an unmold cell on my own - a $1.1 million project. I'm reading prints, building, correcting my mistakes, handling materials, and having parts made. I make some of them myself. It's a very hands-on career that I love." We look forward to seeing Ashley and Daniel's accomplishments unfold in the years ahead. Group photo (l to r): Jim Mercier; Daniel Fairchild; Todd Tanksley; Ashley Tanksley; and Jamen Blake. #apprenticeship #machinebuilding # #LakeMichiganCollege #USDepartmentOfLabor #FirstRobotics #HandsOnLearning #SkilledTrades #ApprenticeshipProgram #CareerDevelopment

Big thanks to Empire | A GCG Company for bringing their cool mobile exhibit to Edgewater on a warm summer afternoon! Our engineers loved the hands-on experience with your portfolio of factory solutions: custom cable assemblies, safety and sensing, and other industrial electrical products. It was a wonderful opportunity for all of us to see firsthand the latest technologies. We should also mention…the snacks and beverages were amazing, too. Thanks for feeding us 😋🥫 Glad you rolled into SW Michigan and hope to do this again. Shout out to your fun and knowledgeable GCG team of experts: Landon Thomas, Dan Venhuizen, and Thomas Lewandowski, Stephanie Dryer, and Lauren Plummer Wally - and to the vendors, including Siemens, Banner Engineering, Turck, Southwire Company, Schunk Group, and more! #automation #factoryautomation #engineering #electricalsolutions #innovation

THE BENEFITS OF VISION TECHNOLOGY IN FACTORY AUTOMATION As a controls engineer, Hector Herrera knows the benefits factory automation can bring to manufacturing facilities. With the emergence of vision technology, the advantages can be exponentially greater. "In the early years of my career, factory automation solutions were limited to only mechanical options, such as using it to pick and place a part. The mechanical designer needed to develop a concept where the part to be picked had to be in a specific static location, with maybe a proximity sensor to detect the part was present and ready to be picked before it was moved to another static location. In the case of automatic inspection of a finished product, the automation options were quite limited and relied heavily on human intervention. With the introduction of vision technology, improvements in automation were unshackled, giving both “eyes” and intelligence to the automation equipment. We no longer had to have a part picked and placed in a static location, and we didn’t have to rely on human intervention when it came time to inspect a finished product. Automated equipment with integrated vision technology added flexibility of mechanical design, reduced cost, enabled repetitive results during operations, required minimal system rework to add new parts/models to an existing machine, and more." See below for more of Hector's insight on vision technology. FANUC America Corporation #automation #innovation #visiontechnology #factory4.0 #smartfactory

If you're a skilled accounting professional, now's a fantastic time to join our company in beautiful SW Michigan. Come for the career opportunity, stay for the incredible beaches. ☀ 😎 🌅 Jacob Brown is hiring! #jobopportunity #jobsinautomation #accountingcareers #SWmichigan #automation #robotics #greatcompaniestoworkfor

We were extremely pleased to host the only and only Robert Little at our Buchanan, MI, facility yesterday. Robert is an icon in our industry, and to read this tribute from him is humbling. We're inspired by his leadership in automation through the year and grateful for this shout out. Thank you, Robert!

Take a look at the faucet cartridge assembly system we designed and built for a longtime customer – it has an assemble time of about 1.6 seconds using the Supertrak Inc CONVEYANCE by B&R Industrial Automation. This machine: - Executes a function check and leak test - Packages the system for the next process assembly (done elsewhere) - Puts it into a plastic tote and the robot puts it on a skid - Performs a quality inspection and leak test - Dispenses grease and uses vision to check that grease is present - Does upper and lower seal plate inspection - Loads trays into cartridges that are presented to the robot. - Picks seal plates and places them on the conveyor for vision inspection - Cartridges are robot-picked and placed on a pallet for movement or shipment - System goes through an inspection process. The system features wireless HMI and computer – and two portable tables for operator use, allowing flexibility for movement around the machine. We designed a series of bowl feeders around the machines for optional parts movement to the point where the robot can grab them. Thanks to our valued customer for letting us share the machine with you! #ManufacturingAutomation #IndustrialDesign #AssemblyLineTech #QualityInspection #RoboticsSystem #MachineVision #ManufacturingInnovation #IndustrialEngineering #FactoryAutomation #ProcessEfficiency

We're taking time to stop and celebrate; relax and enjoy family and friends; and recognize America becoming its own nation 248 years ago! Have a safe holiday weekend, everyone! # #IndependenceDay #July4th #AmericaCelebrates #FriendsAndFamily #HolidayWeekend #CelebrateAmerica #PatrioticPride #RedWhiteAndBlue #FireworksFun

Today marks the end of Edgewater's "Biggest Loser" contest, Lasting six months, the competition recorded participants' weights every week through yesterday. Congratulations to Mechanical Design Engineer Christopher Stolk for losing 44.6 pounds or 16.2% of his body weight! But that's not all... Four months before the contest even started, Chris began his weight-loss journey. So a total of 95 pounds later, Chris is feeling like a new man, and his doctor confirms the health benefits from Chris's eating and exercise plan. A new smart watch prize awaits Chris when he's finished researching them (sounds like an engineer to us!). Big thanks to Mackenzie Vazquez, Dan Miller, and Bryan Rodgers for handling weekly weigh-ins and to Mackenzie for overseeing the entire competition. #EdgewaterBiggestLoser #WeightLossJourney #HealthJourney #HealthyLiving #FitnessMotivation #WellnessCommunity #HealthyLifestyle #FitnessInspiration PHOTOS: Chris in July 2023, before his 95-pound weight-loss journey began, posing next to the PGA championship trophy; and Chris yesterday at final weigh-in.

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY Saturday 🎂 to our Founder and CEO Rick Blake, who took a swing at launching an automation company in 2001 when he built Edgewater Automation! Here we are 23 years later with three locations and a manufacturing division that employee 275 team members who engineer and build some of the most innovative automation in the world. Building a business is never easy, let alone pushing the limits of technology year after year for 23 years. With grit and determination, an extraordinary team of leaders and skilled employees, and the support of family and friends, Rick's vision is a reality worth celebrating on this day and every day. 🤖 Thank you, Rick, for your leadership. May your birthday find you on the links under the sunny Southwest Michigan sky. 🏌️♂️

What a pleasure to host a Kendall Electric trade show so our team could explore the latest motion, lighting, and vision products and solutions right here in our St. Joe shop. Break-out sessions on digital transformation, Overview ICT Solutions, Rockwell Automation Productivity, and On-Machine and I/O Link Safety provided a unique opportunity for the team to interact with participating vendors and other experts. SensoPart showed us “The Visor” vision sensor platform. Its camera integrates to any robot and does the calculations. Great for inspection, code reading; an all-in-one vision sensor. Andrew Leiter had smart vision lights that supplement machine vision lighting. They connect to the camera and can turn on or run continuously. There are a variety of colors, UV or infrared. ALL MADE IN MICHIGAN. 👏 They’ve got hidden strobing (patent-pending) which are undetectable, perceived as continuous. The large size is for auto inspection, six lights in one. A great do-all lab light. Justin Benner had on-machine light curtains, ethernet area scanner and IO link, and an electronic circuit protector. Thank you to longtime partner Kendall Electric, and to these fine vendors who took part! Rockwell Automation CoreTigo - Industrial Wireless Automation UNIMOTION GmbH LinMot USA SensoPart ProSoft Technology Inc. AMCI Group Smart Vision STOBER Drives, Inc. (USA) Real Time Automation, LLC Mechatronics Solutions LLC WITTENSTEIN group Kevin Feltner and Ryan Hassen Kendall Electric; Kevin Reed, Scott Zukewich, RTA; Jason T. Solutions; John Hessler, SensoPart; Brian Arcangeli, CoreTigo; Jeff Hinchley, R+W America; Our team: John Berndt, Hector Herrera, Edgar Abad, Bradley Mathis, Mark Eckstein, Tim Tate, Seth Vander Ark, Jacob Brown Jim Mercier, Todd Tanksley, Chad Henry #KendallElectricTradeShow #MotionLightingVision #DigitalTransformation #RockwellAutomation #SensopartVisionSensor #SmartVisionLights #MichiganManufacturing #MachineVision #IndustrialAutomation #VendorShowcase