Cirtronics, a leading robotics contract manufacturer located in the Greater Boston Area, hosted a panel at the Robotics Summit and Expo in Boston, MA on June 5, entitled: Transitioning Robots from Design to Production.

The panelists included Youssef Saleh, Founder and CEO, Ava Robotics; Matt Liba, Senior Director of Programs, FLIR Unmanned Ground Systems; and David Askey, Co-Founder and CEO, Ascend Robotics.

When discussing alignment between robot design and manufacturing to enable the transition, each of the panelists offered insights into the benefits and challenges of concurrent engineering.

From these expert perspectives, this process is complex and requires innovative solutions. When an audience member asked about optimal timing of entering into active collaboration with an outsourced manufacturer partner, the panelists were clear, "As soon as possible".

What to look for in a Contract Manufacturer (CM)? “Culture”, answered one panelist. “Trust”, answered another. A CM you can trust, who will work with you, and who has previous experience in your market.

"Transitioning a product to manufacturing takes a committed effort between a robotics company and their contract manufacturer”, says Andy McMillan, Director of Cirtronics’ Board of Advisors and Panel Moderator. “Our panelists shared insights that were informative and actionable, offering the gift of their aggregate experience to attendees who may be ready to transition their products to manufacturing."

Cirtronics and Transition to Manufacturing (T2M)

The Cirtronics T2M center offers design reviews, concurrent engineering and co-building. T2M equipment and team members are dedicated to process development and validation, increasing the efficiency of transitioning new products into full-scale production.

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