Much of Rowan County’s industrial history is composed of textile mills. While mills and textile manufacturing still make up a part of Rowan’s business landscape — though in a smaller overall portion — diversification of industry now includes a new type of business. It’s one that wasn’t even feasible 10 or 20 years ago, largely due to the blistering pace of advancing technology.

One of Rowan’s industrial residents is Integro, a company whose business operations could quickly become confusing to an average person. And, when Integro chose to make downtown Salisbury its headquarters, the company was just one of several businesses classified as “advanced manufacturing” that inquire annually about moving to Rowan County, according to economic development director Robert Van Geons.

“We really have a great potential here to be an automation hub and to be a leader in robotics and the integration of that into the workplace,” Van Geons said. “If we were to name the two largest sources of inquiry they’ve been advanced manufacturing with a large percentage being international companies and distribution and logistics.”

Among the companies Van Geons named as advanced manufacturing in Rowan were Turnkey Technologies, located on Bringle Ferry Road, and Agility Fuel Systems, which has plans to build a regional headquarters near Julian Road.

 

Inside Advanced Manufacturing

 

In the world of manufacturing, each business runs itself different, whether it’s workspaces, machinery or just general operations.

Integro uses vision technology and provides software to various companies. In most cases, Integro is looking to improve a client’s quality control.

The advanced manufacturing company, which is housed in the Salisbury Business Center, has a relatively sparse shop floor. Several machines, with a few employees tediously working to perfect software bugs and install electrical and data wires, inhabit the floor.

Other Integro employees work above the shop floor, looking at machine layouts on a higher level of the building.

“To us, it’s what we do day in and day out, but to other people it’s probably rocket science,” said Integro Senior Project Manager Pat LaFerriere. “There are literally only three businesses in the U.S. right now that are solely focuses on vision.”

In describing the value of “vision technology,” LaFerriere said many businesses don’t make vision or quality inspection as a high priority, meaning that products may not be inspected as closely as needed.

“A lot folks think about quality as an afterthought,” he said. “For most it’s about throughput. In that case you could end up with a product that doesn’t do what it needs to do.”

The machines on the shop floor of Integro come in all shapes and sizes. Some have mechanical arms and red lasers. Others have a conveyor belt. The largest of the bunch was about twice as wide and a several inches taller than an average person.

Regardless of a new employee’s background, LaFerriere said the learning curve to build and operate Integro’s systems can be steep.

One of Integro’s newest employees, Brian Matthews, previously worked on Black Hawk helicopters. It may sound impressive, but even Matthews had to brush up on various parts of Integro’s business.

“There’s a lot of new things, a different environment and new terminology,” he said. “In aviation, you have a manual for everything that includes a step by step guide. Here, you don’t have a manual to refer to when you have an issue. You kind of have to shoot from the hip and there may be multiple ways to get around a problem.”

Regardless, Matthews said the process of learning new computer code and Integro’s processes is interesting.

Integro may be at the top of technological advancement in industry, but LaFerriere said it’s necessary.

“We have to stay on the cutting edge of technology because it gives us a competitive advantage,” he said. Having the ability to offer the newer technologies to our customers quicker than our competition is one of the most obvious reasons for keeping abreast of all the new technologies.”

But it isn’t just advanced manufacturing embracing new technology in the 21st century, he said.

“New technologies don’t just impact manufacturing. They have widespread benefits,” Laferriere said. “Today vision guided robotics is being implemented anywhere from laser eye surgery to dental surgery, from internal medicine to the shop floors of America’s manufacturers. ”

 

Changing the Community

 

The increasing pressence of advanced technology in industry has a broader effect than simply a client.

When new businesses arrive in Rowan or any community, the most frequently touted items are often jobs and a boost in tax revenue. The effect on both taxes and jobs has also changed with the fast pace of technological advancement.

“You’re not likely to see too many 700-job facilities, so in that case, we need 10, 70-job facilities to make the same number,” Van Geons said. “It is an economic reality that industry and all businesses are more and more efficient because of technology. But, also because of technology, the capital investment and the tax revenue generated by an operation are substantially higher than it would’ve been previously, which does provide us resources for education and a stimulus to the local economy.”

So for example, a textile mill moving to Rowan County in 1995 might hire 500 people to run its operations. A factory with identical or even greater output in 2015 would likely hire fewer people but make a greater investment because of the pricey technology required to run the plant.

Advanced technology in factories has one final effect — mandatory technical training — Van Geons said.

“The pay was likely less years ago because with increased skills comes a higher wage on average,” he said. “We’ve heard it, especially, at the community college level and at K-12, that all of our students need to embrace some level of technical training in their educational planning. You have to accept that to truly be competitive in the job market today you have to have some level of technical training in your education.”

Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246