Industrial Automation Insights & Case Studies

The Problem   A large battery manufacturer needed a robotic palletizing system to automate the machine-to-pallet transfer of stacks of metallic plates, a process duplicated across multiple facilities. The manual process created ergonomic and safety concerns due to repetitive handling and lead dust exposure. Tight cycle-time requirements and multiple SKUs…

Implementing functional safety upgrades across a global aluminum manufacturing operation. A global aluminum extrusion manufacturer set out to evaluate and improve machine safety across more than 20 facilities. The initiative focused on identifying risks and implementing machine safety controls that would better protect employees while supporting safe, efficient production. The…

Automating aerospace drilling and cutting to improve throughput, precision, and safety. Meggitt Polymers & Composites needed to significantly increase production. The existing drilling and cutting process was labor-intensive, creating challenges with accuracy, throughput, and safety. Concept Systems designed and integrated a fully automated robotic drilling system using a FANUC M-710…

Leading process controls integration for a greenfield sweet potato processing facility.   Building an Award Winning Plant with Process Controls As consumer demand for frozen sweet potato fries grew, a food manufacturer invested in a greenfield processing facility to expand production capacity. Concept Systems served as lead integrator, coordinating the…

Using OnGuard Collision Avoidance to protect aircraft while giving painters precise access to the work surface. Painting aircraft requires skilled crews to work quickly and accurately from movable platforms positioned close to the aircraft surface. When limitations in an existing system restricted movement and created production delays, the manufacturer turned…

Combining machine vision and 3D laser scanning to identify, inspect, and sort variable-sized boxes at up to 60 boxes per minute. Automated packaging lines need to identify, inspect, and route products quickly without slowing production. For this application, Concept Systems developed a machine vision sorting system that combines camera inspection…

Replacing outdated manual controls with a user-friendly HMI to improve blending consistency, flexibility, and diagnostics. National Frozen Foods needed to modernize a vegetable blending system that relied on manual dials to control the ratio of vegetables entering production. Concept Systems completed an HMI upgrade that gave operators more precise control…

Using a custom CNC controls retrofit to improve positioning, precision, and efficiency during rocket engine component inspection. Critical rocket engine components require X-ray inspection to verify their integrity and safety. Traditionally, positioning the X-ray equipment for these inspections was a time-consuming, manual process that relied heavily on technician experience and…

Using 3D machine vision and robotic automation to improve bag handling, increase throughput, and reduce product loss. For this coffee roaster, the robot moving 150-pound bags of raw coffee beans from pallets to the conveyor had become a weak link in production. The existing system frequently tore bags, spilled product,…

Replacing obsolete controls while developing a phased retrofit strategy to reduce risk and protect continuous cheese production. When obsolete controls threatened the long-term reliability of Tillamook Creamery's cheese production equipment, Concept Systems was brought in to develop a modernization strategy. What began as a Remote I/O retrofit evolved into a…

Replacing outdated controls with a centralized fuel farm control system to improve visibility, efficiency, throughput, and safety. A fuel farm containing five storage tanks supported aircraft fueling as well as the loading and offloading of supply trucks. Its aging control system provided limited visibility into equipment status and created operational…

Engineering and implementing machine safety remediation for more than 80 identified hazards across an aluminum extrusion line. An aluminum manufacturer needed to address more than 80 safety hazards identified during a plant-wide safety assessment. Concept Systems provided the engineering and integration required to turn those findings into machine safety remediation…

Leveraging our experience as a Rockwell Automation Gold Level System Integrator to standardize process control with PlantPAx for a greenfield frozen potato processing facility. A global frozen potato supplier was building a greenfield processing facility while looking for a better way to standardize process and packaging controls across its operations.…

Combining six-axis robotics, 3D vision, automated welding, and production data to improve steel billet traceability, accuracy, and worker safety. Steel manufacturers like Nucor Steel rely on accurate billet identification to maintain traceability from casting through downstream production. As production demands increased, its manual tagging process created opportunities for identification errors while…

Retrofitting existing robots with 3D laser scanning to improve cake decorating accuracy, flexibility, and changeover efficiency. Rise Baking Company produces and decorates cakes for large supermarket chains. As customers requested increasingly intricate designs, limitations in the existing robotic decorating system resulted in inconsistent decorations, manual finishing work, and difficult product…

Developing and deploying 30 high-speed robotic workcells across eight facilities to help Vestcom bring a new retail product to market. Vestcom provides shelf-edge pricing and promotional solutions to more than 70 percent of retail food, drug, and mass merchants in the U.S. When the company developed a new product designed…

Combining 3D machine vision, six-axis robotics, and custom tooling to automate the handling of heavy, randomly oriented parts. At a truck and axle manufacturing plant in North Carolina, operators manually unloaded heavy, irregular components from large bins before transferring them to a re-gripping station. Individual axle and brake components could…

Integrating collision avoidance, process air, crane positioning, and hazardous-area controls to improve the accuracy, efficiency, and maintainability of an aircraft paint hangar. Painting a commercial aircraft requires precise coordination between painters, movable work platforms, environmental controls, and safety systems. For a major aircraft manufacturer, aging and disconnected controls limited efficiency…

Written by Rufus Mainwaring, OSU MECOP Intern, 2026 An Unexpected Introduction to Automation  When joining MECOP, I didn’t anticipate getting placed at an automation company. Along with friends, my expectation was that I’d end up doing mechanical engineering at a relatively standard manufacturing company with little chance for work with…

For Sam Cafferata, service isn’t a department. It’s a way of approaching the work.  By the time Sam joined Concept Systems in 2006, he had already spent more than a decade building experience in industrial automation and controls. He graduated from Oregon Institute of Technology in 1992 with a B.S.…

In today’s manufacturing environment, efficiency, flexibility, and responsiveness are critical to staying competitive. Modular robotic automation can help manufacturers streamline production, adapt to changing needs, and reduce the time and complexity associated with traditional automation projects. By combining configurable workcells with proven robotics, controls, vision, and safety technologies, manufacturers can…

For more than 25 years, Scott VanDelinder has played a pivotal role in helping Concept Systems deliver complex automation projects while developing the engineers on his team. As a Principal Engineer and Project Management Professional (PMP), Scott’s career reflects a unique blend of technical expertise, disciplined execution, and an

Written by Dharma Prime, Senior Controls Engineer   Welcome to another installment of our series on Rockwell Automation FactoryTalk Optix. This article will cover the basics of user interface (UI) objects, compare the available buttons with their counterparts in FactoryTalk View, and discuss some of the more advanced features that…

David Skidmore has spent nearly four decades solving complex manufacturing and automation challenges across aerospace and industrial environments. While he often jokes that he graduated from the “School of Hard Knocks,” his career reflects a deep foundation of hands-on engineering experience, practical problem-solving, and long-term customer partnerships. David began

When failure isn’t an option, experience matters. For over 25 years at Concept Systems, Sergei Furduy has built a career around exactly that – delivering automation solutions in environments where precision, safety, and reliability are non-negotiable. From aerospace crane systems to nuclear applications and advanced carbon fiber manufacturing, his

From Paper Mills to Process Control   If Ron Schiedler’s career had a headline, it might read: steady hands, high standards, zero shortcuts.  Ron’s path into automation started in pulp and paper, an industry known for unforgiving environments, massive equipment, and systems that leave little room for guesswork.   For 13 years in pulp…

Bob O’Brien: Legacy Automation Expert in Wood Products At Concept Systems, Principal Engineers represent the highest level of technical leadership in our organization. More than senior project contributors, they are trusted advisors, system integrators, and mentors whose work impacts not just one project but the direction of our company. From developing robust safety

The Intern Experience | From Intern to Engineer By Isaac Young, Controls Engineer, OIT MECOP Intern, 2025 (second from the left in the picture above) I joined Concept Systems during my second MECOP internship while finishing my senior year as a computer engineering student at Oregon Institute of Technology. Over six months, I worked

Team Insights From a Week of Innovation The 2025 Rockwell Automation Fair was a week of collaboration, innovation, and hands-on learning for the Concept Systems team. For many, it was their first time experiencing the scale of Rockwell’s sessions, labs, keynotes, and technology showcases — and each person walked away with

Written by Brandon Chan, OSU MECOP Intern, 2025 On my third day of joining the company, one of my coworkers had coordinated to have an April Fools’ themed potluck. Although I didn’t have much prepared, just a box of chocolate macnuts from back home, they welcomed me with open

Removing the Blindfold: Manufacturing Data Collection with Ignition Author: Ruvim Turchik, Senior Engineer “You can have data without information, but you cannot have information without data.” —Daniel Keys Moran Even with data collection practices in place, plant managers can be left blindfolded to bottlenecks in their manufacturing process. Manufacturing facilities…

Concept Systems had a dynamic week in sunny Anaheim, California, at the 2024 Rockwell Automation Fair this November. The event sparked valuable conversations with new connections across the Southwest and strengthened relationships with our long-standing partners.  Chad McDowell, Technical Resource Director, participated in a panel at the inaugural New Capacity…

Written by Isaac Grossberg, Software Engineer  To get the most out of Rockwell’s FactoryTalk Optix, you need to get familiar with dynamic links. These links are the backbone of automation and data flow in Optix, transforming your UI from static to dynamic. Let’s break down how dynamic links work and…

Written by Isaac Grossberg, Software Engineer Read Part 2 of our FactoryTalk Optix series about OOP.  One of the best things about using Rockwell Automation’s FactoryTalk Optix platform for developing HMIs is how you can tweak and enhance functionality through NetLogic. This feature lets you tap directly into the .NET…

Written by Isaac Grossberg, Software Engineer Introduction to FactoryTalk Optix Part 1 Welcome back to the second blog in our series on FactoryTalk Optix! If you missed the first post, where we covered the basics of FactoryTalk Optix and its core elements, you can read it here.   Today, I’m excited…

Written by Isaac Grossberg, Software Engineer FactoryTalk Optix is a powerful platform from Rockwell Automation designed to enhance your HMI and data visualization capabilities. If you're looking to elevate your Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), edge computing, and data management, this platform has a lot to offer. FactoryTalk Optix extends…

During Automate 2024 our CEO, Steve Strong, and portfolio manager Evan Gonnerman, gave a successful talk about building robotic systems with modular designs. They explained that these systems produce higher ROI, provide a lower time to production, and offer a more reliable technical backbone for your automation system.   Following the…

What is Retrofitting? Retrofitting is the process of updating or upgrading existing machinery or systems to improve functionality, efficiency, and performance. Instead of investing in entirely new equipment, retrofitting allows you to leverage your existing infrastructure while incorporating modern technologies and methods. It's a cost-effective way to enhance productivity and…

Concept Systems has provided manufacturers with innovative automation solutions and system integrations for more than 20 years. Concept’s updated brand reflects its growth over the past two decades. It expresses a bold new look and feel of a business with the expertise and leadership capable of creating groundbreaking change as…

Our Project Methodology is a proven process to ensure they are completed on time, on budget and to customer expectations Our project management method is based on real-world experience and ensures open communication, so all those involved have an up-to-date understanding of each other’s expectations and responsibilities. Our methodology

Selecting components for UL508A industrial control panels can seem difficult, but knowing these methods makes it easy. There are several ways to go about selecting hardware that is listed for use in a UL508A enclosure.  Every device that is UL listed has 2 pieces of information attached to it.  The…

How Manual Painting Impacts a Company and How an Automated Painting System Improve Processes The way that parts and products are painted today in general industry typically involves a process that is a very manual in nature. It includes operators prepping parts, loading parts, painting parts, and management of part…

The Fundamental Questions to Ask at the Start of an Industrial Control Enclosure Design It’s one of the first questions asked when beginning an industrial control enclosure design. Are we using circuit breakers or fuses to protect our equipment? How does one choose what to specify? What are the pros…

What is Industrial Automation? In today’s factories and shop floors, industrial automation is everywhere and it is difficult to imagine a production line without automation. Industrial automation uses control systems and equipment, such as computer software and robots, to perform tasks that were historically done manually. These systems operate industrial equipment automatically,…

A process control system involves ensuring that a continuous manufacturing process is predictable, stable, and consistently operating at the target level of performance with only normal variation. A properly planned and executed process control system can yield incredible benefits to manufacturers. Here are just four of those benefits: How Process…

Robots have been around for many decades, and robotic technologies continue to rapidly advance. Today, robotics are used to increase the efficiency of all kinds of manufacturing processes. Today’s robots use sensors that enable them to see, hear, and even feel their surroundings. Robots are capable of adapting and making decisions to…

Industrial automation is a rapidly growing field that is transforming the way many industries operate. However, for those new to the industry, the terminology and jargon used can often be confusing and overwhelming. Whether you’re an engineer, a technician, or a business owner, this guide will provide you with the…

What do amusement park rides, factory assembly lines, sawmills, food processing plants, and robotic work cells all have in common? They all rely on Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) for automation and control. PLCs are specialized industrial computers designed to monitor inputs, execute programmed logic, and control output devices in real-time.…

We’re thrilled to be named a 2024 System Integrator Giant by Control Engineering, whose prestigious annual list ranks the top 100 system integrators among companies listed in the CFE Media Global System Integrator. The list supplies important information regarding the wide range of systems integrators ready to address the

ATX West, one of the premier automation manufacturing shows, is coming to Anaheim, CA and Concept Systems is going to be there. Our team is eager to learn about your manufacturing challenges and share how our customized automation services can help you create more cost-effective and safer workflows. Click