Wiring the Future: Automation and Interoperability with SVT Robotics at Modex 2024

eCom Logistics Podcast

As CEO of SVT Robotics, A.K. Schultz leads the overall company vision and go-to-market strategies. A.K. has spent his career leading the design and implementation of high-profile automation projects across multiple industries and top Fortune 500 companies, participating in the deployment of over $1 billion in automation. That experience gave him a unique understanding of the technical solutions customers need to advance their business, and it provided the foundation to launch SVT Robotics in 2018.
Nick Leonard is the SVP of Product at SVT Robotics. With extensive domain and software leadership experience, Nick ingeniously bridges the realms of business and technology, honed through his journey rising through project management and solutions architecture. At SVT, Nick shapes the overall product vision, ensuring the company remains at the cutting edge of robotic process automation. Beyond the office, Nick prides himself on being a mentor, tech enthusiast, and avid reader.

SHOW SUMMARY

In this episode of eCom Logistics Podcast, broadcasted live from MODEX 2024 in Atlanta, the conversation dives into the heart of robotics, software, and connectivity within the logistics industry. Featuring interviews with Nick Leonard and AK Schultz from SVT Robotics, the discussion elaborates on the revolutionary software solutions SVT Robotics provides, aimed at enhancing interoperability, automating processes, and ensuring seamless connectivity across various logistic operations without needing physical robots. Their software acts as a central nervous system in logistics, enabling quick and efficient data monitoring and utilization. The episode further explores real-life applications and challenges solved by SVT Robotics' innovative connectivity solutions, emphasizing the critical role of data in optimizing logistics and the importance of easing the integration burden on IT departments and automation integrators.

HIGHLIGHTS

[00:01:01] Meet the Minds Behind SVT Robotics
[00:01:25] Nick Leonard's Journey in Automation
[00:02:40] AK Schultz on Solving Interoperability in Robotics
[00:06:26] The Philosophy of Connectivity and Integration
[00:13:16] Customer Success Stories with SVT Robotics
[00:16:19] The Future of Automation: Monitoring and Optimization
[00:18:01] Real-Time Incident Management: A Customer Story
[00:19:42] Advanced Logging and Fault Analysis
[00:20:43] Exploring Orchestration in Robotics and Automation
[00:23:40] The Future of Open vs. Closed Ecosystems
[00:25:07] Bridging Technology Gaps with Connectivity
[00:27:18] Partnering with Tier One Systems for Integration
[00:29:11] Empowering IT and Integrators with Advanced Tools

QUOTES

[00:06:37] "The machines are really executing what the software is doing and the magic is in the software, right? And so that's number one. Number two, we connect to software or robotic software is basically automating and making things faster and it doesn't necessarily need to involve a machine. It doesn't have to have an articulated arm robot. It can just be a mechanical system, right? So really what it's about is unlocking sensor data and putting it into this, what we see is us being the central nervous system."
[00:16:39] "So the first thing I think a lot of people misunderstand is. Now we're connected. What's the next challenge we have to think about? We're going to maintain that system's health, right? Because now we're running an automation facility and you were talking about 120, 140 picks an hour from your baseline. Okay. Now I have that ROI, that clock's ticking. I need to make sure that we're at that 100 to 200, 124 picks all day long. And a lot of automation systems, it's making sure that silent failures aren't happening in your system. So a lot of times maybe you're a bad data from a wrong order structure or something like that. One system doesn't like the data that's being exchanged. A lot of times that's happened. That's silently failing in the background."

Find out more about A.K. Schultz and Nick Leonard in the links below.

A.K. Schultz’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/a-k-schultz-9b5b899/
Nick Leonard’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickleonard/
SVT Robotics Website: https://www.svtrobotics.com/
SVT Robotics Library: https://atlas.svtrobotics.com

This episode is sponsored by G&P Construction. If you're in need of top notch, all-inclusive Material handling solutions for logistics and commercial real estate, look no further than G&P Construction. Be sure to visit www.gandpconstruction.com to discover your one-stop shop for turnkey MHE integrations.