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When a person is programming robot movement, they usually use what they perceive to be the most optimal paths. Realtime Robotics software removes the biases and reliance on programming experience when producing motion plans. Robotics engineers often call this robot movement seemingly counterintuitive, something they wouldn’t have considered previously.

Customers love how this kind of high-quality motion planning saves them countless hours of programming time on iterations, while staying within the desired workcell parameters.

As a side benefit, you can improve other metrics. As seen in the example above, cycle time shortens by 26%, when our software generates robot movement routes.

Like other major automotive manufacturers, empower your team to tackle other complex challenges. We can take care of your operational improvements and automatically guide your robots where they need to be.

CASE STUDY

Unlocking Faster ROI

Speed, agility and flexibility are critical in order to produce products for vehicles in a timely manner to capitalize on the latest models, transportation trends and styles. Parts suppliers like Hella also need to be able to change the products they produce quickly and easily as demand can increase or fall at a moment’s notice.

Project Goals

The company was looking to optimize an existing pick and place operation, with a lot of incoming and outgoing goods. An operator still had to occasionally enter the workcell, creating a need for a dynamic work environment between the robot and the person. Continued operational success for HELLA requires the following:

• A consistent reduction in cycle time
• Decreasing reprogramming and redeployment time for robots
• Live collision avoidance, while rapidly responding to an unexpected operation or variable task is key
• Dynamic work and obstacle avoidance so the robots are able to accurately operate between the task, the operators, the surrounding equipment and the employees

We have some terrific news to share today – our own Maggie Weeks has been recognized as a supply chain industry leader by Supply & Demand Chain Executive!

She is a recipient of this year’s “Women in Supply Chain Award,” which honors female supply chain leaders and executives whose accomplishments, mentorship and examples set a foundation for women in all levels of a company’s supply chain network.

As our 5th employee, Maggie has embraced every challenge that came her way, helping to evolve the everyday company experience while working tirelessly to elevate our brand to the next level.

She’s worked directly with customers to help them understand how to best optimize their operations and embrace the latest supply chain technologies. A part of this has been evangelizing how Realtime’s technology empowers robots and people to be more comfortable with variability and deal with it autonomously.

Our CEO, Peter Howard, shared that: “Maggie joined the Realtime team as its second non-founder employee. We had asked the MassRobotics team if they could recommend someone that could wear the many hats required in a very early phase startup, and without hesitating, they said we should meet Maggie, who was then at Symbotic, and had been one of its earliest employees. Over the three and a half years of collaborating with Maggie, she has responded to every challenge imaginable, designing stellar websites, to project managing our move from MassRobotics to our current 11,500 square foot office/lab space, to customer acquisition, to branding, and most recently onboarding 24 employees in 8 weeks in her ‘spare time.’ She’s been a fabulous partner in building this exciting company!”

On the marketing side, Maggie regularly pulls off the impossible on tight deadlines – and has helped with both the product storytelling evolution and our rebrand, including the launch of our new website.

In addition, she has been a tireless promoter of the beneficial role that robotics technologies can and should play in the manufacturing, logistics and supply chain industries. With companies facing a talent gap and the never-ending need to be more efficient while cutting costs, robotics and automation should be the answer to what the next generation will look like. Her efforts have helped promote the idea of optimizing the space and equipment you have to work with, so that automation can truly be beneficial.

Nathan Koontz, our Director of Customer Success, added that: “I’ve worked with Maggie within the same department at two separate companies now, while at Symbotic and now Realtime Robotics. Maggie heavily influenced my decision to join Realtime Robotics; her down-to-earth gritty determination coupled with her outright care and compassion for coworkers is infectious. From the day I met Maggie at Symbotic, she has offered a helping hand at work, and in life. She helped me find my place on a fast-paced and dynamic team, while also supporting me through exhaustion right after my son was born. The key is that she is always willing to help and will do anything to support her friends and colleagues. I’ve only ever known her to lead with compassion and constant consideration for others.”

Maggie is very dedicated to making our team be both happy and productive at work, and to helping everyone get the most out of their current role as possible, so they can grow and continue along their desired career path. One example that immediately springs to mind is how, during the beginning of the pandemic, she pioneered a virtual social events program, as she was acutely aware of how it would help our suddenly dispersed team continue to connect with each other during a difficult time.

Dan Sorin, who you may know as one of our founders and our Chief Architect, perhaps summed it up best when he said: “My impression of Maggie is that she can do anything. I’ve asked her for help with everything from marketing to logistics to facilities to HR to web design, only one of which is part of her current job title. And she works amazingly well with everyone: engineers, sales, marketing, and HR, among others.”

We couldn’t be prouder of this well-deserved, industry-wide recognition. Maggie, we’re very lucky to have you on the Realtime Robotics team. Congratulations!

Q: Matt – great to be speaking with you today. To get us started, could you share with us some details on your background?

A: Sure! Most of my early career focused on system level and electrical design of robots and automated industrial equipment. I had some really great mentors that taught me everything from motor control to nuanced circuit board design, and feel like I’ve been in the weeds of every aspect of robot design. About 10 years ago, my career focus shifted to leadership, what makes a great place to work, what makes a great team, and how to drive constant improvement.

Q: How did you get into the field of robotics?

A: Honestly, random luck! I followed my girlfriend (now wife) to Austin after my junior year at BU, and landed an internship for a company that made custom automation for AMD. I immediately fell in love!  We solved practical problems, and that suits me – I’m practical. And writing software that resulted in robot motion, whether right or wrong, was really fun! The founders were an extraordinary group of people, which I really only understood much later in my career. They were empowering and selfless, I learned so much from them.

A few years into that first job, I became a sort of electrical-engineering apprentice working for one of the founders. I spent about 7 years building system level and board design skills. I later took those skills to Brooks Automation where I spent 13 years, culminating in the development of what I think is still probably the best multi-axis control system ever created. Again, I was fortunate to work with a group of brilliant engineers, it was amazing to see what we were capable of designing. As my responsibilities grew, I learned how to build capable teams and the fundamentals of what is required to have consistently successful development projects. In 2016, I helped launch Alert Innovation, a company developing grocery order fulfillment automation, as well as a great company culture. I was excited to take what I learned there and apply it to Realtime Robotics earlier this year – we are committed to making an exceptional company!

Q: What are your responsibilities at Realtime Robotics?

A: At Realtime, I’m the VP of Engineering. My first priority is making sure engineering runs well – that we have the skills necessary to realize the product vision, that we deliver on time and with the expected quality. A lot of my job involves listening to understand our challenges and building consensus to drive changes that move us forward. We’re already working to empower engineers and leaders, build our technical and leadership skills, clarify responsibilities and technical objectives, and hire missing links in our organization.

Q: Why do you believe culture is so important to a company’s success?

A:  I believe most everyone wants to have a job where they can have impact, where they can do their best work. Our team needs a leadership team that supports them, a place where the big problems flow to the top, not the reverse. The leadership team steers a path that provides clear objectives that are achievable and will ultimately make the company successful. We’re working to build a trusting environment where everyone feels safe to ask questions or raise their hand when they need help. When people feel like they’re genuinely supported, their skills align well with their work, and their management team understands and supports their career goals, performance benefits.

Q: What excites you about the future of Realtime Robotics?

A: I truly believe Realtime has a great future ahead of it. The company is solving an important industry problem with no legitimate competitors, and has already gathered a lot of attention from potential customers with early drafts of the product. The path to broad industry acceptance is relatively straight forward.

Q: What excites you about getting out of bed in the morning?

A: I love problem solving. Having a challenge in front of me and working out how to meet that challenge, solve that issue, overcome that obstacle and succeed. I’m drawn to the task of understanding a problem, learning why previous solution attempts may have failed, and finding the answer. That is what drives me on a daily basis.

Q: What do you like to do when outside of work?

A: I’m told that I’m a workaholic in some ways, but when you love what you do it’s tough to put it down. I have a fantastic wife and three great kids (no engineers somehow?) on the cusp of leaving home, so we’re cherishing our last years with them. I am definitely a DIY person, I maintain our cars, take on home construction projects (not all successfully), and am attempting a garden. I love astronomy, good cookies, road bike riding, hiking, meals with family, camping, ping-pong, and travelling to foreign countries.

Q: What advice would you like to impart on our readers? Any piece of terrific advice you’ve received along the way?

A: Performance follows passion. People make miracles happen when they’re excited about what they do. I encourage students and young employees to experiment early, try and figure out what you love before life locks you into a job. Don’t settle!

Q: Hi Joy; Thanks for taking the time to chat with us today. For starters, could you tell us about yourself?

A: Sure thing; it’s a pleasure to be here. I’ve been in the HR field for more than twenty years and have worked at large, medium and small organizations mainly in their technology divisions.  I’d say my expertise lies in talent acquisition, leadership development, change management, organizational design and employee relations. Prior to Realtime Robotics, I was the Global Head of Talent Acquisition for Teradyne, and had worked at Symbotic, a subsidiary of C&S Wholesale Grocers, which got me into the industrial automation and logistics space. I’ve helped companies like Liberty Mutual learn how to attract IT talent and rapidly expand their organization.

Q: Why was Realtime Robotics a good fit for you?

A: When I learned more about the company I thought it had a very cool technology. Robotics is an exciting and growing industry, with smart people involved in it. It piqued my interest and I felt there was a real opportunity to help the company grow at a critical time in its history. In addition, on a personal side, there was an opportunity for me to expand my role from solely talent acquisition and utilize my full HR-related skill set.

Q: So, what do you do every day at Realtime Robotics?

A: At Realtime, I’m responsible for a full range of “people operations,” as I like to call it. I manage the process of hiring and onboarding new talent, establish ongoing employee development processes, manage benefit/payroll vendors and more. At this stage of the company’s growth and development, it’s critical for me to manage the scaling of the company to meet the opportunity in front of it.

Q: What do you like best about your job?

A: The best part of my job is getting to know everyone at Realtime Robotics and building one-on-one relationships with them. In addition, as I mentioned before, I enjoy having a variety of responsibilities each day that enable me to use different aspects of my skill set. It truly makes every day different and exciting for me.

Q: How do you spend your free time outside of work?

A: Outside of work I enjoy spending as much time as possible with my fur babies. I’m also a big fan of home renovation and do-it-yourself projects; there’s nothing more satisfying than being able to complete and live in a project you undertook yourself. I also like to travel, and love when I have a chance to be active outside through cycling or boating.

Q: Do you have a hobby?

A: Well, I don’t know if I’d call it a hobby, but I am a coach at Lead The Way, which is a club field hockey organization based in RI, MA and CT. As a former player, I have a deep love for the sport and this gives me the opportunity to teach the game to a new generation of players every year. Field hockey is really a passion of mine, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to share my passion with others.

Q: What got you into the robotics field? 

A: I first worked at a company by the name of Casepick Systems (now called Symbotic) as its HR Manager more than ten years ago, which was my initial gateway into the world of robotics and related industries. To be completely honest, I have always enjoyed working at technology companies – the nerdier the better!

Q: What excites you about Realtime Robotics? 

A: Put simply, everything about the company excites me! I love the startup culture we’ve established and continue to evolve as we grow and expand. I love the people that work here and the intelligence they have about robotics; just being around that is exciting. The company has created a strong environment that enables innovation to happen, which makes it a fun place to be.

Q: Are there any lessons or advice from your career that you’d like to share? What was the best piece of advice you ever received? 

A: The best piece of advice I’ve received in my career – which I try and pass along to everyone I can – is that you need to venture outside of your comfort zone. You should embrace the opportunity to do so when it presents itself, and take steps to make it happen if the opportunity to do so isn’t evident. The moments when you’re outside your comfort zone are the moments that you will grow the most.

The moment an e-stop goes off, because of a failure or need for maintenance, you can quickly and easily restore operations. With a couple of clicks, any operator can easily bring all the robots to their home positions, removing the risk for collision and costly delays.