PLAINS TWP. — As artificial intelligence and robotics continually become a bigger part of manufacturing operations across the region, nation and world, some local companies are leveraging gadgets to their advantage.
During the Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center’s Advanced Technology and AI Summit on Thursday at Mohegan Pennsylvania, Steve Esposito, production engineering manager for Carbondale-based Gentex Corp., said the company incorporates AI with a vision system from GrayMatter Robotics for sanding helmets.
Esposito noted it typically took about 15 minutes per helmet through a manual process. Now, two helmets can be done in about seven minutes with a robot.
“The government keeps asking us to increase capacity and we’re looking to reduce our rework cost and get more repeatable,” he said. “Operators don’t want to work in certain environments. When we’re sanding our helmets, it’s a very dirty operation. Having robots do 80% to 90% of that, it keeps the operators out of that dirty environment. The more we can automate that, and it just becomes an operator loading and unloading a machine, it’s easier to hire people to do that work. It keeps them safer and cleaner, and makes the job more repeatable.”
During the last five years, Gentex, a contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense, received government and internal funding to identify areas in the plant to automate, and introduced about 10 systems in the last year to increase capacity to support today’s war fighters, Esposito said.
Jake Hall, an industry advocate and social media sensation known as the Manufacturing Millennial — who has more than 20 years of experience in the industry, including working for automation distribution companies and deploying software inside manufacturing facilities — stressed that companies need to create a strategy around AI.
“AI is here to stay and it needs to be a conversation for everyone from leadership all the way down to management and the operator,” he said. “AI is going to be impacting all our jobs, all our lives, so the sooner you can understand where it’s going to impact your company and then build strategies around that, the faster you’re going to grow. If you’re curious about integrating AI into your processes, you should. Find a target goal, specify what you want to start with and what you want your results to look like, and then find the best tool to support it.”
While Hall described AI as probably one of the most overhyped technologies, he added it would be one of the most impactful and is here to stay.
“The cautionary tale to a lot of manufacturers is to really understand the products and the solutions you’re trying to solve before a company says they can do AI,” he said. “Manufacturers need to make sure we do our due diligence before we buy into some products.”
Additionally, the United States has fallen well behind China in robotics and artificial intelligence, Hall said.
“China deployed 600,000 robots last year, compared to 50,000 in the United States,” he said. “We often hear about reshoring coming back to America, but we’re not going to bring jobs back to do old tasks. In order to bring jobs back, we have to create new jobs and new technology to be attractive to an industry.”
Rob Crane, director of the robotics and integration program at Lackawanna College in Scranton, sees more students showing interest in robotics as the program evolves.
Crane started building the robotics program in 2021 and began teaching in the fall of 2023.
“I started with three kids the first year, four kids the second year, six kids the third year, and this year I had eight,” he said. “We’re just a two-year program with the hopes of one day building it into something where they can stay. I’m also looking for articulation agreements with other colleges. We’re looking to expand everywhere we can.”
Lackawanna College students currently use a robotic simulation they can program from home and build cells — enclosed, automated workstations — Crane said.
“If they don’t know the answer, they can use AI to try to figure it out and build a complete cell from anywhere,” he added.
Samantha Porter, vice president of marketing for InnoTek Computer Consulting Inc., which has offices in Hazleton, Bloomsburg and Bethlehem, warned manufacturers about the dangers of falling for AI security threats.
“We know AI can fake a video, it can fake a voice, and obviously write an extremely convincing email in your CEO’s extremely specific style, and it’s easy to get fooled,” she said. “A good rule to have is that absolutely any request involving money or data, especially a change in how you’re exchanging that information, needs to be verified by a backup method. AI tools are constantly changing, they’re showing up in new software every day.”
Fred Reck, president of InnoTek, urged manufacturers to educate all employees about the proper uses of artificial intelligence before introducing the technology companywide.
“Companies that do well harnessing AI and data automation are not the people with the most tools or the fastest rollout, it’s the companies that know how it’s being used in their organization, protect what matters, and prepare their people to be able to use it responsibly,” he said.
Jake Hall speaks on AI in the workplace during an Advanced Technology and AI Summit, hosted by NEPIRC, at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
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Jake Hall speaks on AI in the workplace during an Advanced Technology and AI Summit, hosted by NEPIRC, at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Source: www.thetimes-tribune.com
