Hardware Podcasts

The Automation Adoption Boom: Why ROI is the 2026 Metric That Matters, Ep #30

Lights Out · 12 Dec 2025 · 39m · Episode 30

What this episode covers

Hosts David Buick and Eric Nekich launch a multi-part series on automation ROI, arguing that shops must quantify return on investment before investing in hardware. They emphasize that automation cannot fix unreliable processes, specifically highlighting the critical role of workholding systems from SMW Autoblok and pallet delivery systems from Hennig. The hosts outline five key baseline metrics—spindle utilization, setup time, operators per machine, labor cost per part, and remaining labor percentage—that shops must capture using simple tools like stopwatches to build a valid ROI model.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
SMW Autoblok, Hennig, Verdant Commercial Capital, Hire MFG Leaders, NTMA, Fifth Axis, Trygg Work Holding

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