Manufacturer of Magliner aluminum material handling equipment Magline recently welcomed Fran Bridges as vice president of engineering following a position as vice president of operations for Segway in Bedford, New Hampshire.
Bridges is responsible for the development, design and innovation of new products as well as continuous improvement of current designs to assist in growing and strengthening its line of product offerings.
"I’m extremely excited to add Fran to our team,” said Greg Ecker, president and COO of Magline. “As a bilingual design technical leader and program manager, he brings over 20 years of experience defining, planning and implementing multi-faceted programs."
Fran Bridges answered a few questions about the organization and how technology is affecting the industry.
What are three key things that a machine builder, system integrator or manufacturer should know about your company?
- We customize our solutions to meet the needs and solve the problem our customer has.
- Our products are designed for industrial and commercial use, made out of high-quality materials, and modular to allow for replacement /upgrading of parts.
- As part of the manufacturing process, we are committed to creating innovative solutions that help transport materials more safely and efficiently.
What new technologies are driving your product development and why?
Software-based electric powered drive and lifting components are driving our product development. These components provide more control, reduce fatigue and improve overall productivity.
How does the Industrial Internet of Things figure in your business strategy?
The IIoT helps in identifying opportunities to bridge technology with material handling devices to create a stronger relationship—such as with productivity and ergonomics—between the user, the device and the environment.
How will machine automation and controls alter the way companies staff their operations in the future?
By reducing staffing and creating opportunities for a more diverse workforce with fewer injuries.
How is the development of software solutions impacting your requirements for hardware?
Hardware requirements must be able to support the needs of our products in all of the environments they are expected to perform in: indoors, outdoors, heat, cold, rain and be able to stand up to the abuse they will be given.
As engineering and IT continue their convergence, which one is and/or software will be making your products better, faster and easier to use?
We treat them as a combined system. Both are equally important.
Looking into the future, how will technology change your company over the next five years?
We will continue to develop systems that will marry technology with traditional functionality to deliver seamless solutions in all industries that we serve.
