Making automated, flexible manufacturing a reality with robotics

The industrial sector — across both manufacturing and logistics — is making headlines like never before given labor shortages, production backlogs, long lines of cargo ships at ports, and a crisis around Christmas gifts that started in October. We have all been made acutely aware of how fundamental, fragile, and interconnected our supply chains are. As a result, the sector is questioning accepted paradigms and considering new solutions. We see manufacturers reshoring production and increasing jobs at previously unseen rates. However, relative cost of production in the US is, of course, the key barrier to bringing production back stateside. Importantly, we are already facing labor shortages in the manufacturing sector, which, thankfully, means wages are going up but only exacerbates the issue of relative production cost.

We see this intersection of thorny issues as a key entry point for technology. We have been looking for innovation along three themes: automation, computation, and flexibility. Automation has historically been limited to high-volume, low-mix repeatable production. And, while flexibility has advantages, it traditionally implies higher variable cost. However, when automation and intelligence are paired, manufacturers can unlock efficient, adaptable manufacturing. Machina Labs is making the elusive pairing of flexibility and automation possible through its use of industrial robotics and advanced modeling techniques. We are thrilled to announce our investment in this ambitious company that aims to transform the manufacturing sector.

Machina Labs is cutting its teeth in sheet metal forming. While this is a large and established industry ($140B for stamping alone), it is relatively under-served by technology. Most of the innovation we’ve seen in metals manufacturing has been on the additive side — for small, complex parts — and, more recently, in automating subtractive manufacturing or welding. However, sheet metal forming still relies on traditional stamping methods at high-volumes or manual press-braking at low volumes. So we were excited to see Machina Labs taking on the space. We see opportunities for Machina Labs to disrupt engineering and design for metal parts, making the process faster and more iterative. But we also believe that Machina will transform production of parts for low-to-mid volume by reducing the manufacturing costs, time-to-market, and inventory holding costs for tooling. Machina Labs can also unlock completely new part geometries, which could transform product design more broadly over time.

We are always looking for teams who have the right combination of market knowledge and insight and cutting-edge technical approaches and, in this case, the Machina Labs team is uncannily well-equipped for the task. Edward Mehr, co-founder and CEO, brings a background in many relevant fields: commercial space, manufacturing, 3D printing, and computer science. He has spent time as an engineer and manager at SpaceX, Relativity Space, Google, and others. And Babak Raeisinia, Ed’s co-founder, complements him with deep metallurgy expertise. Babak has a PhD in materials engineering from the University of British Columbia, completed a postdoc in magnesium-intensive automotive manufacturing at UVA, and was a Lead Scientist at Novelis (the leader in aluminum rolling and recycling) where he led their materials science modeling.

Machina Labs’ technical approach is impressive and fascinating. It’s rare and intriguing when we hear one of our partners — especially one with experience working with metals — comment “I’m surprised this is even possible.” Enabled by advancements in machine learning combined with faster process simulations, Machina Labs’ robotic system can manufacture many designs and materials without costly changes in hardware or tooling. Though deceptively simple in concept, the robotic controls and closed loop machine learning required to take a part from CAD to a robotic path plan to robotic simulation, post processing, and forming is no small feat. Add to this the requirement of 0.2 to 0.5mm tolerancing accuracy, 30 to 60 minute per part production rates, smooth surface finishes, ranges of feasible materials, and complex geometries, and you have yourself a veritable engineering puzzle. We are compelled by the hybrid approach they are taking to leverage off-the-shelf equipment where possible (e.g., industrial robotic arms) and design and manufacture in-house custom components where advantageous (e.g., end-effectors, method of holding sheet metal in tension). Both approaches, particularly when used well in combination, enable the team to move and iterate quickly.

Lastly, we think early customer signals here are signs of great things to come. This is one of those exciting scenarios where demand has outpaced the company’s ability to serve it. We see early pull for production-level parts in high-value, low-volume use cases from customers like the US government; folks excited to be able to close the loop more quickly on part design in the high-growth startup world, especially commercial aerospace; and large OEMs seeking a path to profitably managing smaller releases and new product categories. For this reason, Machina Labs is busy scaling, both the team and the robotic cell capacity. They are looking to bring on folks who are excited by this vision in robotics, production, machine learning, and software — if you know anyone, please send them here.

Machina is already providing parts to the most innovative manufacturing companies in the world and aims to resolve some of the largest challenges the sector is facing. We could not be more excited to be along for the ride.