The CRO Summit at RoboBusiness: Strategies for Robotics Deployments

Robots have been around for decades, but until recently most business executives likely knew more about movie and TV robots than any robots needed for their business operations.

But over the past decade, more commercial and industrial uses for robotics have moved beyond automotive and electronics manufacturing into businesses that span the market.

From mobile robots that assist warehouse workers in filling e-commerce orders more efficiently, to fully autonomous robots that can deliver packages in the last mile, to a medical robot that can assist doctors with complicated surgery procedures, there is tremendous growth within the robotics industry – and a need for business executives within all industries to learn more about how to deploy robots.

That’s the goal of the Chief Robotics Officer (CRO) Summit at RoboBusiness – to give teams tasked with creating an automation and robotics strategy the latest information on deployment tactics, issues, and challenges. Sessions at the CRO Summit will be held at RoboBusiness 2019, scheduled Oct. 1-3, 2019, in Santa Clara, Calif.

The executive summit will provide several in-depth educational sessions, led by industry experts and technology providers in an interactive format. The summit aims to foster discussion and provide networking opportunities to fellow peers across industries that include manufacturing, supply chain, health care, agriculture, construction, hospitality, and more.

Topics covered at the summit will include:

• How to find the right robot for your needs
• How to secure funding to support an automation implementation.
• Why it’s important to develop a “robotics champion” at your business.
• How to select a systems integrator for automation deployments.
• Calculating metrics around the measurement of return on investment (ROI).
• Creating a rollout strategy to secure solid adoption of robotics.

Business executives across the organization can benefit from the Chief Robotics Officer Summit, including supply chain and warehousing executives, business owners, Chief Operating Officers, Chief Technology Officers, directors of automation, and systems integrators and automation consultants looking to understand their clients’ challenges.

Session highlights at the Chief Robotics Officer Summit include the following:

• ”Best Practices on Implementing a Successful Robotics and Automation Strategy” – this panel of seasoned industry professionals that have already gone through the implementation process will provide the do’s and don’ts for companies considering an automation plan. Speakers include executives from Lockheed Martin, Procter & Gamble, and Locus Robotics.
• Raminder Sandhu, the automation practice lead at California Manufacturing Technology Consulting, will present a discussion around the different types of robot categories and applications. Need to know the difference between an articulated robot and a Cartesian robot? Is a cobot really collaborative? This session will tell you which type of robot is best for your automation need.
• ”Reducing the Risk of Robot Adoption” – Byron Clayton, CEO of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute, will discuss the strategies that other manufacturers have used to implement robotics at their companies. From accomplishments to failures, the session will give attendees ways to develop a successful implementation plan and how to measure success.
• ”The Workforce: Design for Them or Fail at Industry 4.0” – Robotics industry leader Jason Walker, CEO of Waypoint Robotics, will discuss how companies need to make robots more fully accessible to their existing workforce. With much discussion and fear around robots and automation in the workplace, this session will discuss how robots that have a user-centric design can improve workforce retention and make recruiting easier for companies.

“Across many new industries, robotics have matured to the point where they are just being discussed by the engineering or operations teams,” said Keith Shaw, editor-in-chief of Robotics Business Review, which help produce RoboBusiness. “Departments across the business – from finance to legal to marketing to the executive suite – need to understand the issues and impacts that are coming from robotics, automation and artificial intelligence technologies.

The Chief Robotics Officer Summit is a great opportunity for those business executives to craft their strategies now, before their competitors do.”

RoboBusiness 2019 will feature more than 60 exhibitors, 50+ speakers, the MassRobotics Startup Boot Camp, the Chief Robotics Officer Summit, the second annual workshop on Big Data, networking receptions, the annual Pitchfire startup competition, and more surprises.

Full conference passes are $795, the Startup Boot Camp is $295, and expo-only passes are only $45!. Special pricing ends September 19, so register today to experience the most influential and innovative robotics conference Oct. 1-3 in Santa Clara, at RoboBusiness 2019.