Radwell International’s Blog

Blog Transcribed from Video by Ryan Neuman for Radwell International

My name is Paul Fashaw and I’m a Logistics Breakdown Specialist. I am assigned to ensure that the orders that our company receives from their vendors are accurate and that they match their purchase order. I also need to make sure that the material that we receive is in good condition and acceptable. 

How did you develop your work ethic?

My work ethic developed as a child. I started a job at 9 years old as  an order boy at Acme markets. At the of 21, in 1954, I entered the military and served for four years before I was honorably discharged in 1958. At that time,  I started in the workforce as a computer operator.  I continued to work in that capacity in the data processing field for 55 years. After I retired I began working  at Radwell International. I’ve been here 13 years and I continued to use my work ethic at Radwell as a Breakdown Specialist. I need to ensure that all the orders and materials that the company receives are according to our specifications.  It’s very interesting and I enjoy my work.

Industrial projects - which can include anything from warehouses and distribution centers, to printing plants and manufacturing facilities - can have complex MEP/FP engineering needs. They aren't just big storage facilities; they often house advanced equipment and technology, and need to be designed for optimum productivity and safety.

Sometimes one phone call can make all the difference. This  story begins because of a service call placed on October 10^th, 2017 by Siemens Healthcare in Plainfield, Indiana to the team at Radwell International in Franklin, Indiana. 

Siemens contacted Radwell for a service call because they had parts that could not be repaired by their regular vendor. Matthew Hartwell and Eric Dupont of Radwell International's Indiana location went to that service call and Eric worked on the part for about 30 minutes and was able to repair it.  Eric then worked on the second part  with the same impressive results.  Siemens people checked and verified everything was working as they wanted, and they were amazed that Eric had diagnosed and repaired everything in such a short amount of time. Even the techs on site were blown away that Eric was able to get it working again.

My name is Matt Gingell and I’m Radwell International’s Building & Aquarium Maintenance Associate.

 My main responsibilities are taking care of over 40 fish tanks. Right now we have 42 that are up and running. That's a total of 7,300 gallons of water.

One of the larger fish tanks is the one embedded in the wall of Brian Radwell’s office. It’s a 650 gallon fish tank that features South American, African, and Central American Cichlids. However, there is also one huge Gourami who is a community fish but is definitely in charge of the tank. 

 Plant floor automation, data integration, and optimization of facilities processes are critical to overall business success in today’s global business environment. The focus on information, coupled with the introduction and implementation of Industrie 4.0, places an even greater emphasis on selecting the best partner to drive success within automation-focused projects.  Knowing this, it is crucial to establish a relationship with a system integrator that understands your needs and offers the best solutions for your business.

As the virtual world collides with real-world manufacturing issues, the winners will be those who successfully navigate the challenges of both the technology and the people who will operate it. That was the central theme of the 2018 Global Automation and Manufacturing Summit (GAMS), presented by CFE Media and Hannover Messe USA and sponsored by Siemens, SAP, Advantech, Beckhoff, Infor, Stratus, UL, Universal Robots, and Lapp.

The half-day thought leadership event that took place Sept. 12 as part of IMTS 2018 in Chicago drew a full house of manufacturing leaders looking to navigate the challenges faced in an age of robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

In today's manufacturing environment, safety fencing plays an integral role in protecting employees from hazards posed by industrial machinery. Threats to operator safety can be found on automated machinery, process control equipment, robotic work cells, and many other areas on a manufacturing floor.

A physical barrier between hazards and operators is an effective, low-tech solution for significantly reducing the risk of injury and the costly lawsuits or machine downtime that result from these accidents.

Before implementing a safety fencing system, these five considerations should be taken into account.

The three often-discussed three Ds of robotics are "dull, dirty, and dangerous." They relate to the question, which is not asked often enough, "Do you want to build an automated system to do that task?"

The reason the question is not asked enough is that it needs to be asked whenever anyone looks into designing a system (whether manual or automated) to do anything. The possibility that anyone ever sets up a system to do anything without first asking that question means that it's not asked enough.

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege to represent Radwell International at the first Swisslog Autostore User Conference just outside of Chicago, Illinois. Radwell is one of a rapidly growing network of Autostore users. Many of which are on the leading edge of robotic automated storage and retrieval systems.  Our Autostore has been operational now almost 2 years and boasts 34 robots, 50,000 bins and 9 stations.

From the conference I had 3 major takeaways that I would like to share with others that are interested in the Autostore or automated systems in general.

Manager, Guidance Counselor, Cheerleader--Though these words are spelled differently, they mean the same thing. There isn’t an effective management discipline that doesn’t preach blending these jobs together. Which is to say, that the best managers can switch from taskmaster, to psychoanalyst, and to support system seamlessly. In today’s culture, it’s no longer enough to be able to articulate your expectations to your employees. The job has evolved and those with responsibility of management are being forced to evolve as well.

Being a manager involves managing, obviously. But what does that really mean? Is a manager sitting behind a desk monitoring performance metrics? Is a manager wandering around watching processes? Is a manager doing both? Is a manager doing more? There is no clear answer but the constant throughout it all is that the job is more complicated than ever. Managing people requires a delicate touch, as well as a firm guiding hand. Finding ways to connect with your team will allow you to be more effective, no matter what management style you favor.