Colewell Automation

06/02/2026

Last week, we joined Women in Manufacturing of Iowa for a tour of Kreg Tool's facility in Ankeny.

It was a great opportunity to hear from their leadership team, see their operation up close, and connect with fellow manufacturing professionals from across the state.

Thank you to Women in Manufacturing Iowa and Kreg Tool for hosting an excellent event. We always appreciate the chance to learn from others who are helping move manufacturing forward.

05/28/2026

This is the largest and most complex system we’ve built to date.

From 800 units in 10 hours
to 1,440 units in 8.

Nearly double the output.
Fewer operating hours.
Less workforce pressure.
Stronger tracking and consistency.

This wasn’t a robot added to a line.

It was a full production redesign — from inbound handling to outbound staging.

Every step logged.
Every operation verified.
Every part accounted for.

If you’re hitting a ceiling because of labor, flow, or compliance complexity—

The solution isn’t another patch.

It’s a system built to scale.

Challenge Accepted.

Check the full video here:

What started as a simple inkjet replacement turned into a full production redesign.In this project, Colewell Automation engineered a fully integrated robotic...

05/26/2026

A key goal was giving NE Machine the ability to run and maintain their new FANUC robotic welding cell without calling in a programmer for every small issue.

We built the system around a user-friendly HMI, making it easy for the team to:
• run parts
• reset safety circuits
• troubleshoot faults
• keep the Lincoln HyperFill® process moving

“I would recommend Colewell to anybody that asked… any system they build is just going to work.”
— Jordan Bachman, Welding Dept. Lead

Read the full case study:

“[Before, it took] five or six men working on it for 2 weeks straight, and now we’re capable of the same output in 3 days by two men.” — Jordan Bachman Welding Dept. Lead

05/21/2026

Increasing throughput is easy.

Maintaining compliance while you do it isn’t.

Every part in this cell is:
Cleaned.
Verified internally.
Spun 360° under laser inspection.
Manually reviewable.
Permanently marked.

Automation didn’t remove checkpoints.

It embedded them.

When your environment demands traceability, you don’t sacrifice control for speed.

You engineer both.

05/14/2026

THE LARGEST SYSTEM WE'VE BUILT.
Increasing throughput is easy.

Maintaining compliance while you do it isn’t.

Every part in this cell is:
Cleaned.
Verified internally.
Spun 360° under laser inspection.
Manually reviewable.
Permanently marked.

Automation didn’t remove checkpoints.

It embedded them.

When your environment demands traceability, you don’t sacrifice control for speed.

You engineer both.

05/12/2026

"“Are we ready for robots?”

That’s usually the wrong question.

The real questions are:
Are your processes ready?
Are your people aligned?

If your standards are clear, your team is bought in, and leadership is committed — automation works.

If not? It magnifies the mess.

Full breakdown in our blog.

05/08/2026

Supporting local teachers one cup at a time☕️

We're proud to continue our annual Teacher Appreciation Week tradition by treating local educators to a coffee this week. Thank you to all teachers who make a difference in our communities every single day!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week from Colewell Automation!

05/07/2026

Something big is coming.

+80% output.
20% fewer operating hours.

We’ll show you how.

Full story drops soon.

05/05/2026

Most automation problems aren’t robot problems, they’re process problems.

If your flow isn’t stable, a robot will just automate inefficiency.

Before we engineer a cell, we look at:
• Bottlenecks
• Variability
• Standardization
• Throughput limits

Optimization comes first. Automation comes second.

If you’re exploring robotics, start by asking: Is your process ready to scale?

04/30/2026

When the Lincoln Electric Automation HyperFill® weld-tracking automation wasn’t behaving how it needed to, the easy move would’ve been for North East Machine & Tool to pause the project. That’s not how we work.

Instead, we teamed up with their welding lead to troubleshoot, reprogram, and get every variable dialed in. Hours of calls with FANUC America Corporation and Lincoln. Rewrites. Retests. Repeat.

“Colewell spent ten to twelve hours on the phone with all the different people needed to solve this.”
— Jordan Bachman, Welding Dept. Lead

It’s the kind of behind-the-scenes grind that doesn’t show up in flashy sales decks. But it’s exactly why the cell runs like it does today.

Because when you're building a system that’s meant to last, you stay in the ring until it works.

https://youtu.pulse.ly/pyvelzgm6q

2 likes. "HyperFill® Robotic Welding System for North East Machine Greatly Reduced Time, Cost, and Labor"