ROBOTS HARNESS THE FUTURE
Reko unveils $5.7-million expansion
A robot was ready to help cut the ribbon Monday on the grand opening for Reko Automation, a $5.7-million expansion for Reko International Group Inc.,but excited humans tore it first. The 48,600-square-foot Reko Automation Division is the company ’s third building in Lakeshore and the growth in building assembly lines with robotics could help the mostly automotive-based company diversify into the food and pharmaceutical industries. “Reko International has taken it to the next level, not just with the new facility but also from a technology and innovation standpoint,” director of business development Gene Schilling said Monday.
There were robots on display Monday sorting pills and grabbing syringes. “UR robot, I am in position and ready for a picture,” announced an AGV — automated guided vehicle — as it rolled up with bins of syringes to a robotic arm.
That pair of robots are headed to New York City for an automation show in Manhattan. Schilling said Reko is at the forefront of adding that technology into automated systems for manufacturers. Instead of robots in cages along assembly lines, robotics can be safely used alongside humans, he said. If the robotic arm comes into contact with something it will stop working.
“Really the future is robots working alongside humans just as you see here today,” Schilling said. Reko International Group Inc. president and CEO Diane Reko said the expansion celebrated Monday is part of the company’s plan to invest almost $10 million more over the next four years for a total of $15 million.
That will allow it to receive a $1.5-million provincial grant and add about 30 jobs.
The grant helped Reko decide to expand in Lakeshore. There were offers, some tempting, to move stateside.
“I would say I’ve had at least 10 calls over the past six months for locating elsewhere. We decided to stay here because we believe building upon the expertise of the people that we already have is a more effective way to grow,” she said. Everyone is struggling to find labour. People want better paying and more challenging jobs and robots can give manufacturers the ability to be globally competitive and use automation for tasks that are dangerous or mundane, Reko said.
“It could be the solution for this growing problem. You for sure have been reading about all the skilled labour shortages but there’s even a non-skilled labour shortage coming and robots are the potential to help bridge those gaps. They don’t have to be enemies.” Using virtual reality, Reko Automation can let customers walk around and see their assembly line. Depending on the customer’s needs, the automated system may or may not include robots. The automation division started in 2001 and has grown. Engineers design the automation and program the robots. Three 150-foot long bays with 19-foot ceilings give workers the space to build an assembly line and show the manufacturer it will work with their specific product before removing the line and reassembling it at the buyer’s site. Reko, who recently joined a U.S. national trade association called Women in Manufacturing, got her start in the company in payroll. Her sisters weren’t interested in joining the business so she took over after her father and founder Steve Reko died in 2007.
Her father was a Hungarian machinist who came to Canada in 1957 with a suitcase and no English. He worked for International Tool Ltd. and started Reko Tool and Mold in 1976 with a $5,000 investment, about 2,000 square feet and a handful of employees, she said. Now Reko International has 200 employees and about 200,000 square feet over three buildings. The publicly-traded company announced its 26th consecutive profitable quarter in March with consolidated sales for the quarter ending January 31 at $11.5 million and gross profit for the quarter at $1.5 million.
There are two other divisions. Concorde Precision Manufacturing custom machines parts that are not automotive-related such as parts for large locomotive engines and parts used in mining, transportation, oil and gas, machine tool, power generation, and aerospace industries.
And there is Reko Tool and Mold which makes plastic injection and compression moulds for automotive parts producers. “Everybody knows the automotive industry has cycles,” Reko said. “So we would like to help to offset some of those down cycles in automotive with other things to keep our people busy all the time.”
I’m fine starting with two (overagers) and watching the teams that might have an extra guy or watch the waiver wire.
WARREN RYCHEL, Spitfires GM
We decided to stay here because we believe building upon the expertise of the people that we already have is a more effective way to grow.