Roboticist Chronicles
It doesn’t matter how innovative your product is if your potential customers don’t know about it or understand why they should buy it. Johnny Tyler, Marketing and Design Specialist at Arc Specialties, has seen many companies adopt an unambitious marketing strategy – or, worse, not even draw out a strategy at all – rather…
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Engineering & Construction
The Roboticist Chronicles: Robots Aren’t Stealing Your Jobs, They’re Creating Them
As technology advances at an exponential rate, a common fearful sentiment among Americans is that robots are stealing human jobs. But, this long standing rumor couldn’t be farther from the truth. Robots actually create jobs, save humans from harm, and open up opportunities for new industry growth. The Roboticist Chronicles unpacks how robots are…
Articles Engineering & Construction
Why Collaboration is King at Fabtech 2019 with Dan Allford
It takes multiple companies to make robot automation come to life in metal forming, fabricating, welding or finishing. At Fabtech 2019, Dan Allford of Arc Specialties provided a picture of why collaboration and cooperation between companies in different segments of the industry is so important. “People that come to this show typically come with…
Engineering & Construction
The Roboticist Chronicles: Talking Tariffs, Subsidies, and Free Market Capitalism
Tariffs and subsidies are a hot topic at the moment, with global trade affecting the market each day. But who exactly are tariffs hurting and helping? Dan Allford, president and founder of ARC Specialties, delivers his perspective on this episode of The Roboticist Chronicles. Allford, a proponent of a global free market, described how…
Engineering & Construction
The Roboticist Chronicles: Lockheed’s “Skunk Works” Business Philosophy in Practice
Every business approaches how they work in a unique way. Each has a philosophy and culture, and each unique approach has its wins; some successful than others. But why? On this episode of The Roboticist Chronicles, we spoke business philosophy with Dan Allford, president of ARC Specialties. ARC Specialties has sound technology, but they…
AEC
From a Small Garage to Big Success: The Story of Arc Specialties
From its inception in 1983 to now, ARC Specialties has become a case study in the growth of an American entrepreneurial endeavor. Company President Dan Allford took the business out of a garage and has since turned the automated manufacturing systems provider into an international enterprise. On the first episode of The Roboticist Chronicles,…
AEC
Should We Tax Robots on the Factory Floor?
Have you heard of the concept of robot taxation? It’s an idea that pushes for more taxes on companies that use robots over human labor, and supporters have a fierce advocate in their corner: Bill Gates. But does it make sense in the modern world, one in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution…
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Transportation Management Systems Don’t Compete With Carriers, Brokers, or Shippers — They Align Them
Transportation management systems are undergoing a quiet but consequential shift. Once viewed primarily as tools for tracking loads and storing paperwork, modern TMS platforms are increasingly expected to function as the operational backbone of logistics organizations. As freight volumes continue to fluctuate, margins remain tight, and supply chains rely on a growing mix of…
Five by Five Leadership: Why Purpose, Warmth, and Clarity Matter More Than Ever at Work
For the first time in history, workplaces now span five generations, forcing leaders to rethink long-standing assumptions about motivation, communication, and career growth. As Gen Z enters the workforce, they bring expectations shaped by a desire for meaningful work, clear development paths, and work-life balance—rather than traditional, one-size-fits-all career ladders. In an era marked…
Scaling Experiential Learning at Slippery Rock University with Dr. John Rindy
Regional public universities are being asked to do more with fewer students, fewer dollars, and less margin for error—making student persistence, timely graduation, and career outcomes central institutional concerns. Under mounting enrollment pressure and a shifting labor market, experiential learning has moved from a “nice to have” to a strategic imperative. Research consistently shows…
The Next Data Center Bottleneck Isn’t Power or Cooling — It’s People: The Data Center Workforce
With the rapid rise of AI workloads, data centers are being built with higher power density, stricter reliability expectations, and cooling technologies that are evolving faster than most teams can adapt. As a result, these facilities aren’t just getting bigger—they’re becoming harder to operate, harder to staff, and far less forgiving when something goes…