No matter how large a company becomes, there remains a sense of sweet victory in repeat business. By harnessing the power of state-of-the-art automation systems, Conveyor & Automation Technologies, Inc. solves unconventional packaging challenges for many of the world’s best-known brands. This company gets to the heart of customer challenges, solving complex packaging processes by engineering and manufacturing conveyor and automation technology solutions that deliver measurable returns on investment.
Based in Sparks Glencoe, Maryland, the Conveyor & Automation Technologies team is known for developing outstanding technology along with its standard line of conveyor products. The company builds on the achievements of its 20-year legacy to provide customers with future-focused packaging automation. Mechanical Engineer and Vice President Gus Sarikas brought his expertise in conveyor systems to the company when he and his wife, President Lilly Sarikas, founded the firm in January 2004.
The couple established their reputation as visionaries early on. Aware of the changing tides of technology and fortunate to welcome a team of bright minds wanting to do something new, they set out to integrate automation into the company’s services from the beginning. For two decades, the company has enjoyed word-of-mouth business while building sound foundations and a living repository of generational knowledge. Confidently executing large, multi-million-dollar projects for satisfied customers, the company aims to give customers “merit, profitability, and safety,” Gus says.
By developing a deep understanding of the nature of its customers’ struggles, Conveyor & Automation Technologies firmly believes in first uncovering the reasons why customers are experiencing difficulties within their existing systems. “Then we look at how we can provide something that offers a return on investment,” he continues.
Known for staying on top of developments in the industry—from the latest technology to digital and software design—the company’s new, information-rich website is proving tremendously popular amongst engineers. “There are a fair number of videos on the website,” says Gus. “Once they see the actual projects in action, it gets the creative juices going.” Naturally, this continues to secure the company a great deal of new business.
In addition to technology, the speed and efficiency of this team are central to its success. Once customers reach out, Conveyor & Automation Technologies’ applications engineers assess issues, considering possible solutions before conceptualizing outcomes. They then establish the engineering hours required for product development and design. From there, the electrical engineers consider compatible control systems, followed by project managers and mechanical and electrical installers getting on board before commissioning starts.
Once a schedule is established, price estimation follows, and when the team receives a purchase order, detailed component development begins. The team, Gus explains, thinks about much more than just systems performance; the human element is a constant that runs through all of the company’s work. With its main mission being safety—while engineering profitability for customers into its designs—its next goal is helping to create more enjoyable working environments for all staff members.
Rather than rendering humans obsolete, Conveyor & Automation Technologies seeks to improve job satisfaction instead. The company aims to remove laborious, repetitive processes “without cutting the employee and [instead] give the employee something more meaningful,” Gus explains, highlighting that customers’ staff typically find tending to technological processes more stimulating than performing repetitive tasks for months and years on end. He points out that in the process, traditionally blue-collar positions are morphing into white-collar jobs by removing manual elements and creating human-machine collaboration.
Living up to its reputation for excellence, the company invests in what it considers best-in-class robotics. With heavy investments in FANUC’s recognizable yellow robots and cobots, the company favors the brand for its outstanding value and software, reliability, and service. One FANUC product that stands out is Zero Down Time (ZDT), which employs predictive technology to assess a robot’s servo motors’ health and allows owners to correct any issues and maintain or replace any parts before equipment failure occurs.
Sophisticated vision software coupled with premium Intralox conveyor components, belting, and innovative sortation systems add even more performance power to the company’s automation systems. While Intralox’s quality speaks for itself, Conveyor & Automation Technologies is equally pleased with the customer service, which offers real-time expert assistance. Intralox has “the best delivery. They have the best customer service,” says Gus, pleased that the supplier always has engineers available to answer questions immediately. Such fantastic service is a key value proposition—and it also explains why international distribution and shipping giants like UPS, Amazon, and others count on Intralox for the same top-quality performance.
By partnering with the best, Conveyor & Automation Technologies helps its customers optimize their investments in automation, floor space, uptime, and output as well as ensuring that their operations run smoothly. The team’s automation systems “allow end users to be [ahead] of their competitors,” Gus says.
Perhaps the greatest result of this approach has been the company’s many years of organic growth. By adding to its staff at a rate of two people annually, Conveyor & Automation Technologies now has a team of around 44 people serving customers across the country from a 47,000-square-foot facility with its own attractive office spaces. By creating an atmosphere of trust and respect, the company has let its people know that they are valued as much for their personal contributions as for their expertise. “What gives it life are the people,” Gus says. “That’s why we focus on the people. The facility’s great—don’t get me wrong—but the people are what make it.”
One of the team’s greatest successes yet arrived in the form of a quandary, when a large global manufacturer requested cutting-edge automation when it was unable to find sufficient numbers of employees. The answer was an initial $5,000,000 investment in a system complete with a fleet of automated mobile robots (AMRs), multiple automated machines, conveyors, and industrial robots that function around the clock and communicate as a system. The automation filled 38 manual positions that could not be consistently filled and allowed the manufacturer to run all its production lines at capacity. The team’s greatest challenge at the time was that the integration technology needed development, which was accomplished with flying colors—so much so that the client’s leadership gave the approval for $120 million of additional automation for their other manufacturing plants.
It is this level of innovation by the Conveyor & Automation Technologies team that most impresses the company’s leadership. No matter what customers bring to the table, the team delivers positive engineering outcomes that improve customer operations and work environments. And the good work doesn’t end there; the company also enjoys doing good for others through its involvement in school robotics projects and showing support for breast cancer initiatives.
It approaches the future in the same way it has always done. With artificial intelligence changing the workplace at large, Conveyor & Automation Technologies, Inc. is now considering ways in which the technology can improve and speed up its processes. That includes design, implementation, bills of materials, and the like. This will allow the company to improve its efficiency, output, and, of course, customer satisfaction. Following that, continuing to improve the company’s scalability is its next big priority.
While market demand and trends may change, consistency in quality, service, and innovation remains the mainstay of this dynamic and service-oriented company.
