Workstation Of The Future: An Evolution In Manufacturing

Recently, Tulip and Vention have teamed up to empower manufacturers with connected workstations built specifically for their processes.

If you ask us, we’re designing the agile manufacturing workstations of the future.

When we talk about the workstation of the future we mean agile work cells designed and built around a manufacturer’s unique processes and challenges.

In our eyes, the future is customized workstations that match the way manufacturers work.

In the modern connected factory, every workstation has two vital components.

There’s the hardware–the actual physical architecture of the station.

Getting the design of workstations right is essential. It’s quite literally the infrastructure for efficiency and productivity.

And there’s software.

Applications increasingly drive modern manufacturing processes. These applications–along with IoT devices and sensors–connect people and machines. They improve quality and productivity while turning routine operations into valuable data.

Success in manufacturing requires getting both of these components right. It requires harmonizing station design with the human and software elements of every process.

A partnership between Tulip and Vention was a natural way of making this ideal a reality.

Tulip’s frontline operations platform lets engineers build IoT-enabled, shop floor-ready applications for their unique processes. Vention’s AI-driven Cloud-CAD platform lets manufacturers design custom equipment to spec, and their modular builds make it simple to assemble.

Once benches are up and running, these lightweight, mobile benches can be moved around to accommodate changes in production. Crucially, the workstation of the future is adaptable.

In working together, Tulip and Vention are making it possible for manufacturers of all sizes to create customized, smart, connected workstations.

The short answer is: everybody.

We believe all manufacturers can benefit from hardware and applications designed specifically for their products and processes.

But we’re particularly interested in helping small and medium-sized (SME) manufacturers benefit from the latest digital innovations.

For decades, only the largest manufacturers could afford custom solutions. Traditionally, “custom” carried a hefty price tag. Further, traditional custom solutions required significant outlays for integrations and upkeep. Many smaller manufacturers didn’t have the human or capital resources to build lines that worked on their terms.

With this collaboration, Tulip and Vention are bringing truly customized solutions to manufacturers of every size and industry.

Tulip and Vention workstations are designed to deploy quickly, priced for accessibility, and geared toward producing value fast.

By leveraging each company's unique capabilities, we’re eliminating the barriers that previously kept SMEs from digital innovations.

With Tulip and Vention, there are several ways you can design custom workstations to power your operations. What you choose depends on your processes and priorities.

Build Custom Applications for your Benches

Tulip is a manufacturing application platform that enables engineers to build IoT-enabled applications for quality, efficiency, and more.

Many manufacturers use Tulip for complex discrete assemblies, as well as a host of other complicated, manual tasks. Given the complexity of tasks, work instruction and quality applications are as important to manufacturing performance as station layout and ergonomics.

If workstation design is your top priority, you can build benches to your specifications with Vention, and then design applications around your hardware with Tulip. By customizing hardware and software, you can eliminate bottlenecks, increase throughput, and optimize the efficiency of every line.

This way, your custom benches aren’t limited by one-size-fits-all software, and your applications aren’t limited by cumbersome workflows.

Design Agile Benches for Your Applications

For manufacturers who already use shop floor applications, Tulip and Vention make it possible to design workstations to optimize performance.

For example, with Vention’s Machine Builder, you can customize touchscreen and gateway placement, put picking bins and pick-to-lights exactly where your operators need them, and tweak standard designs to help the flow of WiP in and out of a station.

This makes it possible to perfect the placement of IoT devices, improve connectivity between people and machines, and ensure that all lines are balanced.

Get Started Faster with Pre-designed Assembly Benches

This makes it possible to perfect the placement of IoT devices, improve connectivity between people and machines, and ensure that all lines are balanced.

As part of the collaboration, Tulip and Vention produced a series of benches specifically designed for discrete assembly.

We’ve drawn on our extensive experience helping manufacturers create smarter workstations to create designs we know work.

These designs are built around the common needs of manufacturers, and include custom mounts for monitors and touchscreens, light kit integrations, and picking bins. These designs are an easy, scalable way to bring effective, connected lines to your factory.

Ready to start designing work stations that work for you? Get in touch and we can help you get going with a free demo.