Complex manufacturing is on the rise. As automation and AI-powered tools are taking an increasingly large role in production, manufacturers are free to pivot from simple, fixed production and explore specialized, complex manufacturing.

This pivot is appealing; as technology advances, demand for complex manufacturing is booming in many sectors, such as the medical and aerospace industries.

In order to deliver complex manufactured parts that stand out from the competition, standard industrial automation solutions just won’t cut it. Custom industrial automation equipment delivers precision, efficiency, and a competitive advantage that one-size-fits-all systems can't match.

How Standard Automation Falls Short & Custom Automation Outperforms

Too often, manufacturers are drawn to standard industrial automation equipment because it’s a lower up-front investment than custom industrial automation. While standard automation has a lower price tag, it will cost you more in the long run. Over time, adapting your standard system as new needs emerge becomes disruptive, time-consuming, and expensive. Plus, custom solutions will save more money in the long run by more effectively reducing waste as they’re optimized to your specific operation.

Standard automation is also far less flexible than custom automation. Off-the-shelf systems are designed for a single, commonly performed, repetitive task. You can’t easily reconfigure the equipment to account for product changes or future scalability.

Flexibility is an essential tool that empowers complex manufacturers to adopt highly specialized products and make changes as needed. This is the core benefit of custom industrial automation systems; they're designed to be flexible.

Standard industrial automation cannot handle edge cases, either – and this is where complex automation lives and thrives. Complex product manufacturers cannot compromise their ability to run unusual or one-of-a-kind production scenarios. Standard automation solutions simply can’t accommodate the unique edge cases required for complex manufacturing.

No matter how complex your manufacturing operation is, no matter how unique your product is, Isthmus can develop an efficient, precise, and flexible custom automation plan. We handle edge cases with ease.

When it comes to integration, we see standard solutions causing headaches much more frequently than custom designs. A custom automation plan is developed with your unique facility, equipment, and processes in mind to achieve a seamless integration. Standard automation technology isn’t made to fit your needs or existing architecture, making integration issues much more likely.

At Isthmus, we design custom automation solutions to meld with your existing processes. With custom industrial automation, you can be sure that your automation system will meet your exact complex manufacturing demands, for now and in the long run.

Complex manufacturing requires custom automation solutions. With several decades of industrial automation experience to draw from, Isthmus can design a custom automation manufacturing solution that meets your needs and sets you up for future success.

Key Benefits of Custom Automation for Complex Manufacturing

The features of custom automation – flexibility, edge cases, seamless integration, and optimization – create major benefits for complex manufacturing:

• Precision: Custom solutions meet tight tolerances with ease
• Consistency: Greater precision leads to an overall increase in product consistency
• Scalability: Freedom to change and grow your operation over time
• Worker safety: Custom automation can take over ergonomically straining or high-risk tasks
• Long-term savings: Less waste, lower labor costs, and less costly retrofitting amount to a better long-term ROI

Our Custom Industrial Automation Development Process

If we’ve won you over on custom industrial automation, now you’re likely asking yourself, “What now? How can I get this done?”

At Isthmus, transparency is at the core of what we do. We set a clear five-stage process for every automation project.

1. Concept Development. We work with you to define your project goals, scope, and budget. This might include customer site visits, web conferences, 3D modeling, prototype development, and proof of process trials.
2. Planning and Design. An entire team is involved throughout this stage. Our experts have decades of experience in custom automation to create innovative solutions that work for your application, and this one team can handle every aspect of your design.
3. Build. Our expert assembly technicians employ a variety of in-house technologies to build the best possible equipment for your application, including CNC machining, wire EDM, mechanical assembly, controls assembly, and UL panel building.
4. Acceptance. We implement a rigorous acceptance process, which involves factory acceptance testing, site acceptance testing, traceability, validation, GAMP, documentation, and process data.
5. Service and Support. We stand by our work in the long term. After your new automation equipment is installed on your floor, the same team who worked on your project from the very beginning will be the ones providing additional support and training as needed.