ServicesFactory of the Future Consulting
Automation strategy & tactical roadmaps to transform your manufacturing operations.
What is Factory of the Future Consulting?
The Invio Automation Factory of the Future (FotF) consulting team is a trusted advisor for manufacturing companies seeking to modernize their operations with automation and digital factory initiatives. We help our customers develop their own automation strategy by identifying and prioritizing opportunities for automation while building the supporting business case and ROI needed to make effective business decisions. Our FotF services team works side by side with customer engineering and management teams to develop the roadmaps for transforming their factories from where they are today to where they want to be.
Benefits
Comprehensive Overview
For every project, we deliver a tactical, implementable plan for the customer’s engineering and executive teams. This includes Current State Evaluation Results, Future State System Specifications, Business Case and ROI Calculations, Plant Transformation Roadmap with Investment Summary, and other deliverables as needed.
Reduces Time for Critical Decisions
The FotF process and approach gathers key stakeholders early in the process to build consensus and segment opportunities, often by process block or solution type. The FotF team guides manufacturers through a structured process that greatly reduces the unknowns and potential risk factors inherent in transformational projects.
Foundational Roadmap Development
The aim of the FotF team is to serve as a collaborative partner working side-by-side with the customer’s engineering, product design, quality, and executive teams to develop the blueprints and roadmaps for transforming their factories to meet their future vision and future business needs, objectives, and goals.
Proprietary Benchmarking System
Utilizing a process walk worksheet in the initial floor walk, our team builds a ‘big board’ of projects. Next, we prioritize opportunities using a '2x2' matrix, which assesses value, risk, and reward, guiding further investigation. Finally, we apply our 'Hot-Spot Scoring' which provides a standardized, quantitative method to evaluate projects across multiple business goals and objectives.
De-Risking Automation Deployment Decisions
The goal of the Factory of the Future team is to invest early in key engineering activities—pulling forward about 3-5% of a project’s total cost—to de-risk the overall scope and budget of major initiatives. The structured process greatly reduces uncertainties and potential risks, paving the way for transformational projects
Utilize Our Expertise for Sustained Success
With a wealth of knowledge on what different technologies can achieve, and insights from successful thousands of deployments elsewhere, we help manufacturers navigate the right path to effectively deploying automation and robotics that can successfully scale across an enterprise.
How to get started?
Invio’s Factory of the Future team engages with customers in many fashions, but two standard offerings to begin include our
Rapid Automation Assessment and our Strategic Automation Assessment.
Rapid Automation Assessment
Our Rapid Automation Assessment (RAA) is a faster-moving engineering effort focused on diagnosing a factory’s automation readiness. A cross-functional engineering team from Invio follows a structured approach to identify, rank, and help prioritize the landscape of opportunities inside the 4-walls of a factory as well as key technical challenges and decision points that must be addressed.
Strategic Automation Assessment
Invio’s Strategic Automation Assessment (SAA) is typically a more comprehensive engagement focused on helping manufactures develop a future-state roadmap for transforming an operation. The SAA is typically higher in complexity and technical needs and may include multiple engineering activities like concept development, discreet event simulation, CAPEX planning and more.
How it Works: Collaboratively Defining an Automation Strategy
Define Our Scope
Before we arrive on-site, we work together to craft a meaningful engagement scope with a clear statement of work and a set of engineering deliverables that will help solve operational challenges.
Analyze Your Facility
We visit your facility to understand your current operations, material flow, gather data, listen to operators and identify areas for improvements.
Workshop Solutions
We lead a collaborative workshop with your team to engage key stakeholders, brainstorm ideas, and white-board concepts. Our goal is to align with leadership on the automation roadmap and future state requirements.
Formalize Your Plan
Back at Invio, we synthesize concepts into actionable solutions, develop models to stimulate your process and define your implementation plan.
Report Out
We deliver executive-ready reports that clearly outline the actions you can take, the anticipated ROI, and your immediate next steps. We pride ourselves on providing a tactical, ready-to-implement recommendations.
Meet the Team
Dan Burseth
President, Automation Technologies
Dan oversees all of Invio’s customer relationships and has led multiple factory of the future workshop projects at customers such as First Solar, Peterbilt, and JLG. Formally trained in lean manufacturing and operations management, Dan has visited over 300 factories across the U.S. Dan is based outside of Chicago, IL.
Mal Hulbanni
VP of Automation Technologies
Mal is responsible for application engineering, estimating, and concept development at Invio, and has successfully led workshops with John Deere, McNeilus, and FCA. Mal brings over 18 years of tooling and automation experience and is based out of Lansing, MI.
Jeff Chu
Director, FotF
Jeff supports customers in developing operational strategies and automation roadmaps as a part of Invio’s Factory of the Future consulting team. A mechanical engineer by training, Jeff has management consulting experience across multiple industries and end markets, and is based outside of Chicago, IL.
Travis Turner
Director, Applications
Travis leads Invio’s Applications Engineering for the Heavy Ag, Construction, and General Industries verticals, serving as a subject matter expert for weld tooling, robotic fabrication, robotic assembly, and lean manufacturing process design. Travis brings 15yrs of manufacturing engineering experience and is based in Davenport, IA.
Kevin leads Invio’s Applications Engineering for AGVs and Assembly tooling, serving as a subject matter expert for design of custom AGV/AMR applications, assembly processes, and ergonomic lift/secure device tooling. Kevin brings 20yrs of manufacturing engineering experience and is based out of Lansing, MI.
Kevin Marr
Dir, Applications (AGV & Tooling)
David Regan
Director of Business Development, FotF
David oversees the initial engagement for all of Invio’s Factory of the Future customer relationships. Previously, David led the Automation Readiness Assessment program at READY Robotics and is based out of Charlotte, NC.
Ben Graham
Senior Consultant, Factory of the Future
Ben collaborates with customers throughout the Factory of the Future project lifecycle. From the initial onsite kickoff to the final report presentation, he ensures that projects meet both customer expectations and project scope. He is based in Hoboken, NJ.
Travis Sample
Senior Simulation Engineer
Travis specializes in concept development work centered around robotics and brings over 16 years of experience in all aspects of successful project launch. His focus includes the deployment of robotic welding, material handling, and dispense applications. He is based out of Davenport, IA.
Eddie Kao
Modeling & Simulation
Eddie supports FotF Consulting by bringing Invio’s automation solutions and technologies to life through simulations in 3D environments. Based out of Chicago, Eddie brings over 8 years of engineering experience ranging from industrial processing to commercial food manufacturing.
