Gibson Engineering: Global Solutions with Local Support
When was the last time you or your company invested in the latest “cutting edge” automation technology or technologies? The local supplier went out of his or her way to get you to buy. The only problem was your personnel were not familiar with said technology and the vendor either could not or would not supply adequate support. So what you ended up with was marginally better performance and higher costs. In good times, that is hard to swallow; these days, it could be disastrous. That is why Gibson Engineering of Norwood, MA goes out of their way to provide their customers with the best end-user training programs available. They don’t just show you all of the fancy features, they actually work with you, one on one, to learn how to apply the technologies to your specific applications.
These training sessions help the customer to shorten the learning curve, reduce implementation time and maximize the ROI on your automation dollars. The trainers at Gibson are just that, trainers. They are trained mechanical, electrical or manufacturing engineers, not salespeople. They are factory-trained, and in some cases, factory and field-trained. They understand the products inside and out and know what they can and cannot do.
There are pre-set training courses for products like Cognex, Festo and Mitsubishi (schedules are posted at www.gibsonengineering.com), customized courses to suit individual needs, as well as group seminars and live demonstrations held at fun and interesting venues like the Museum of Science, Gillette Stadium, Fenway Park, Portsmouth Brewery, New England Air and Space Museum and others. Working with Gibson gives their customers global automation solutions with local training and support. This was a key factor for Pete Bedard, a manufacturing engineer at one of Gibson’s customers on the south shore of Boston.
“We were using a particular brand of PLC’s, because they were the “biggest and the best” we were told. The guys from Gibson came in and pitched us on Mitsubishi. We were a little leery at first, but once they showed us not only what the PLC could do but what they (Gibson) could do for engineering, applications and support, we switched over. We used the services of Gibson for both our daily injection molding operations and our custom machinery business. I really enjoyed being called on by Gibson. Every time their sales engineer came in, he had some pretty cool technology for us to check out and they knew how it could be applied to our particular needs. They were also very good at integrating products from a variety of manufacturers and making them all work together. They really know their stuff.”
Pete is now the Senior Applications Engineer at Gibson. Why the move? “When I was in my old job, I could apply these advanced automation and vision technologies to my particular application. Now my job is different everyday. Every day, we find some new way to apply what we know; it’s very exciting, and I also understand the value of this type of training, because at one time I was on the other side of the table.” According to Rob MacDonald, Director of Sales and Marketing at Gibson, “there are many distributors and suppliers of industrial automation and vision products, not just here in New England, but everywhere. We truly strive to be different in our approach, on all levels, from everyone else. These hands-on classes are very popular with our customers - new and existing. It really makes a difference when you can teach on a pretty much one-on-one basis.” Another happy customer is Mark Boisvert, president of Arro Engineering, a job shop and contract manufacturer on the north shore of Boston. “We were working on an automation project with one of our customers, which used a Mitsubishi controller we were not familiar with. After a few inquiries, we were told the local distributor, Gibson, offered training classes on the product. I signed up and when done, I could do all the programming I needed to. It was a very well run and informative session.”
Both free and paid classes are run at the Norwood headquarters. Courses are available for both beginners and advanced users, and the course work is constructed by the manufacturer and administered by Gibson. Hands-on classes are small in size, usually from 4-10 people. Classes usually last from 1-4 days depending on products and course level. Between the classes, group seminars and live demonstrations, Gibson offers a well balanced and informative way to educate their customers in the art of automation. It is a great opportunity to learn new ways to apply technology by working with peers from other companies and disciplines. For more information, call Gibson Engineering toll free at (866) 337-8648 or visit them online @ www.gibsonengineering.com.
