ARM Institute opens call to help manufacturers adopt robotics

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The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute is seeking small and medium-sized businesses in Southwestern Pennsylvania that are interested in exploring the use of robotics through the Institute’s Robotics Manufacturing Hub (the Hub). 

The Hub aims to help small and medium-sized manufacturers in the region evaluate their operations, understand if robotics can address their challenges and even prototype robotics solutions at no cost. Through the Hub, manufacturers will work with ARM Institute experts and members of the Institute’s extensive member consortium and partners to evaluate and prototype solutions at the Institute’s Mill 19 facility in Pittsburg’s Hazelwood neighborhood. 

“Since our Institute’s inception in 2017, small and medium-sized manufacturers across the nation have given us the same message about what limits their operations: they lack the resources needed to implement robotics and they can’t find enough trained workers,” Jay Douglass, the ARM Institute’s Chief Operating Officer, said. “The Robotics Manufacturing Hub directly addresses these needs by removing the barriers to discovering the right robotics technology for their operations and finding solutions that augment gaps in their workforce.”

The Hub is funded through the region’s Build Back Better initiative awarded through the US Economic Development Administration. 

“The ARM Institute is perfectly positioned to offer this program. The capabilities offered through the Hub build on the work the Institute has been doing since 2017,” Dr. Chuck Brandt, the ARM Institute’s Chief Technology Officer, said. “Implementing robotics is perceived as risky, particularly for smaller manufacturers. The Robotics Manufacturing Hub will help manufacturers understand, evaluate, and minimize the risks associated with adopting robotics within their operations.”

To qualify for the Hub’s services, manufacturers must fit into the small and medium-sized range, which means having 500 or fewer employees and less than $100 million in annual revenue. They must also be located in the Southwestern Pennsylvania region within the following counties: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland. 

The ARM Institute is a leading robotics manufacturing innovation institute. It seeks to facilitate collaboration between industry, government and academia to propel systems that address urgent needs in manufacturing. The Institute operates a nonprofit organization, helping it to be an honest broker between robotics and manufacturing stakeholders. 

Learn more about the program on the ARM Institute’s website.