Founded in 1990 and incorporated in Delaware in 2000, the iRobot Corporation designs robots such as an autonomous home vacuum cleaner (Roomba), the Scooba that scrubs and cleans hard floors, and military and police robots, such as the PackBot. iRobot is a public corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT), based in Bedford, Massachusetts.
As the saying goes in manufacturing, "automate or evaporate." And robots represent the cutting edge of automation technology in the United States.
While Japan is often thought of as most adept at the use of robots, America is now a top market for them. In 2003, North American manufacturing companies shelled out $877 million for robots--up 19 percent over 2002, and the industry's best mark since 2000.
Materials handling (moving stuff around factories) remains the largest application for robots, followed by spot welding.
The automotive industry is still the biggest robot user, ordering nearly two thirds of robots last year. But when they were first introduced in the early 1960s they were good for jobs that were dirty, difficult, and dangerous.
Today, robots are more fully integrated into all aspects of the manufacturing process, including parts installation.
Using C-Flex, a programmable robot that can perform different tasks, such as welding multiple body panels, means a plant can build different models of cars for less money using less space
Robots are also being used more and more in lighter industry such as consumer electronics and food packaging. In the cookie industry, for instance, snacks are usually baked, cooled, and moved on 3-to-4-foot-wide conveyor belts at a rate of 1,000 to 2,000 cookies a minute.
For sandwich-type cookies like Oreos, half the belt has tops and half the belt has bottoms. Thanks to advances in machine vision, robots from Adept can spot where the tops and bottoms of the cookies are on the belt.
The robot then tracks the moving conveyor belt and picks up the tops and places them onto the bottoms while the cookies are moving. Robots farther down the conveyor line pick up the assembled cookies and place them into trays. Robots do these tasks at a rate of 75 to 125 cookies a minute.
Back in 1779, Ned Lud started the anti-automation movement that later came to be known as Luddism by breaking into factories in Nottingham, England, and destroying the new weaving machines that were replacing workers.
Still, just in case, it might be a good idea to add a fourth law to sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov's famous "three laws" of robotics. Asimov's laws specify that robots must never hurt humans; robots must listen to humans; robots must protect themselves. Law No. 4: Robots should not steal human jobs--at least not all of them.
Ask iRobot Corp. CEO Colin Angle how his 16-year-old consumer and military robotics business competes with other tech firms to recruit new employees and you'd hear a short, exuberant answer: "We build robots!" To-the-point statements like this back the Massachusetts-based organization's commitment to engaging employees and customers alike along every step of the development process, from concept to finished product. Eschewing long-winded mission statements, the company builds robots with five simple goals in mind: build cool stuff, deliver great product, make money, have fun, and change the world.
Creating an environment that allows employees to reach these goals has helped grow iRobot's revenue by 58 percent over the last year. (During the same period, the number of employees increased 87 percent.) This astounding performance from a company that, Angle says, failed 18 times before finding success resulted in him being named a FORTUNE Small Business/Winning Workplaces Best Boss in 2005.
In less than three years the 300-person firm went from having no HR staff in place to scouring colleges and universities seeking top engineering talent in addition to recruiting experienced professionals. iRobot formally structured its HR component after two of its products took hold en route to changing the world. The company's Roomba floor vacuum is now a household name, and on the military side its PackBot robots are well known to the U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan whose lives they've saved.
The Roomba was developed based on the suggestion of an iRobot employee. That employee was Paul Sandin. In 1997, with the help of a fellow roboticist, Sandin transformed what was a simple, Lego-constructed robot with rudimentary intelligence into a floor vacuum that became, in the words of iRobot Consumer Products General Manager Greg White, a "killer application" of artificial intelligence. Sandin's time and the blessing and seed money of Angle paid off: Roomba is iRobot's most successful product. A similarly named floor-washing consumer product, the Scooba, hit shelves earlier this year.
On the military side, Angle says that over 500 of the company's PackBots have been deployed in several Middle Eastern nations. Their function, he says, is to find and diffuse bombs – a difficult and extremely dangerous task for human soldiers. The robots do this hundreds of times per day. "They can go into buildings ahead of soldiers and do the more dangerous scouting work," Angle says. After seeing them in action, soldiers have flooded iRobot's customer service department with phone calls and letters of gratitude.
Consumers' desire to thank the tech firm for a job well done does more than validate the work of employees like White – it inspires them. "Our robot development begins and ends with consumer insights and the vigorous focus on solving real consumer problems," he says. "A testament to Colin's leadership style is the fact that, though he has very strong opinions, his voice and all voices are equalized by fact."
One employee feedback-gathering tool used at iRobot that supports White's claim that fact is king is a "wiki," a do-it-yourself encyclopedia. A high-tech way for employees to ensure their ideas or follow-up to past ideas are saved for future reference, the wiki is a hit with Angle. "It's just a great knowledge capture tool that ensures that ideas generated during meetings and brainstorming sessions aren't thrown away on a sticky note," he says.
Besides building cool stuff and knowing their ideas are being stored and put to good use, employees like the fact that iRobot offers them an employee stock option plan – a big way for the firm's leadership to show that their expertise at all levels is valued. However, Angle admits that the company's benefits package is not its primary employee motivator. The true stimulant is the organization's forward-thinking work with the mechanical, electrical and software elements that engender its robots. "Our quality of work, the inherent challenges and our collegial environment – that's what motives people," Angle says. "They also appreciate the fact that we're open with our financials."
Having a workforce that is appropriately rewarded for its commitment to iRobot's mission and values has resulted in a unique synergy among work teams. This, Angle says, is not only the goal, it's necessary due to the nature of the company's products. "I think our teams are multidisciplinary because robots are fundamentally multidisciplinary," he says. "Plus, our marketing function operates differently than at other companies. Typically, you have R&D work on the product, and then it's given to marketing to figure out how to package it for the audience. We bring marketing in early, during the ideation moment.
These benefits apply to full-time employees or part-time employees working 24 or more hours per week except as noted. Eligibility begins your first day of employment.
Medical Plan
Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New England (BCBS) HMO and Point of Service (POS) Plans for New England residents;
Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BCBS) Preferred Provider Network (PPO) for Non New England residents.
Dental Plan
Dental Blue with Blue Cross/ Blue Shield – standard dental coverage includes orthodontic coverage.
Vision Plan
Vision Service Plan (VSP) offers annual routine eye exam eye wear allowances
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
Health Care Flexible Spending Account – save up to $3,000 on a pre-tax basis
Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account – save up to $5,000 on a pre-tax basis
Basic Life and AD&D Insurance
Company paid. An amount equal to 1 times your basic salary; minimum of $50,000 to a maximum of $200,000.
Supplemental Life Insurance
Employee paid. Elect Optional life insurance coverage in $10,000 increments; subject to minimum/maximum amount
401(k) Plan
Robust plan offering traditional (pre-tax) and Roth (post-tax) options. Plan has discretionary annual match that for the past several years has been 50 cents on every dollar you contribute to the 401(k) plan up to the first 6% of your salary.
Short Term Disability
Employer paid and eligibility for the first 90 days of disability
Long Term Disability
Employer paid and eligibility after 90 days of any one period of disability; subject to a maximum amount
Vacation
Accrual is per pay period and earn vacation based on the following schedule:
0 to 5 years of service: 3 weeks
> 5 years if service: 4 weeks
Sick Time
Accrual per pay period up and earn 10 days per year
Holidays
Eleven paid holidays – includes nine designated holidays and two floating holidays
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Free, confidential services include parenting, elder care and work life resources, legal assistance, stress management, career assessment, financial and nutrition consultation provided to all employees and their household members.
Tuition Reimbursement – not available to temporary iRobot employees
Tuition Reimbursement available for job-related courses and progress toward a degree in a relevant field
Smoking Cessation Reimbursement - not available to temporary iRobot employees
Reimbursement for smoking cessation related costs; subject to a maximum amount
Extra Perks
iRobot employees enjoy a variety of other benefits including:
Free on-site gym
Wellness events
529 Plan
Discounts on home and auto insurance
Chair massage
Credit union services
Dry cleaning service
On-site car detailing
As the saying goes in manufacturing, "automate or evaporate." And robots represent the cutting edge of automation technology in the United States.
While Japan is often thought of as most adept at the use of robots, America is now a top market for them. In 2003, North American manufacturing companies shelled out $877 million for robots--up 19 percent over 2002, and the industry's best mark since 2000.
Materials handling (moving stuff around factories) remains the largest application for robots, followed by spot welding.
The automotive industry is still the biggest robot user, ordering nearly two thirds of robots last year. But when they were first introduced in the early 1960s they were good for jobs that were dirty, difficult, and dangerous.
Today, robots are more fully integrated into all aspects of the manufacturing process, including parts installation.
Using C-Flex, a programmable robot that can perform different tasks, such as welding multiple body panels, means a plant can build different models of cars for less money using less space
Robots are also being used more and more in lighter industry such as consumer electronics and food packaging. In the cookie industry, for instance, snacks are usually baked, cooled, and moved on 3-to-4-foot-wide conveyor belts at a rate of 1,000 to 2,000 cookies a minute.
For sandwich-type cookies like Oreos, half the belt has tops and half the belt has bottoms. Thanks to advances in machine vision, robots from Adept can spot where the tops and bottoms of the cookies are on the belt.
The robot then tracks the moving conveyor belt and picks up the tops and places them onto the bottoms while the cookies are moving. Robots farther down the conveyor line pick up the assembled cookies and place them into trays. Robots do these tasks at a rate of 75 to 125 cookies a minute.
Back in 1779, Ned Lud started the anti-automation movement that later came to be known as Luddism by breaking into factories in Nottingham, England, and destroying the new weaving machines that were replacing workers.
Still, just in case, it might be a good idea to add a fourth law to sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov's famous "three laws" of robotics. Asimov's laws specify that robots must never hurt humans; robots must listen to humans; robots must protect themselves. Law No. 4: Robots should not steal human jobs--at least not all of them.
Ask iRobot Corp. CEO Colin Angle how his 16-year-old consumer and military robotics business competes with other tech firms to recruit new employees and you'd hear a short, exuberant answer: "We build robots!" To-the-point statements like this back the Massachusetts-based organization's commitment to engaging employees and customers alike along every step of the development process, from concept to finished product. Eschewing long-winded mission statements, the company builds robots with five simple goals in mind: build cool stuff, deliver great product, make money, have fun, and change the world.
Creating an environment that allows employees to reach these goals has helped grow iRobot's revenue by 58 percent over the last year. (During the same period, the number of employees increased 87 percent.) This astounding performance from a company that, Angle says, failed 18 times before finding success resulted in him being named a FORTUNE Small Business/Winning Workplaces Best Boss in 2005.
In less than three years the 300-person firm went from having no HR staff in place to scouring colleges and universities seeking top engineering talent in addition to recruiting experienced professionals. iRobot formally structured its HR component after two of its products took hold en route to changing the world. The company's Roomba floor vacuum is now a household name, and on the military side its PackBot robots are well known to the U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan whose lives they've saved.
The Roomba was developed based on the suggestion of an iRobot employee. That employee was Paul Sandin. In 1997, with the help of a fellow roboticist, Sandin transformed what was a simple, Lego-constructed robot with rudimentary intelligence into a floor vacuum that became, in the words of iRobot Consumer Products General Manager Greg White, a "killer application" of artificial intelligence. Sandin's time and the blessing and seed money of Angle paid off: Roomba is iRobot's most successful product. A similarly named floor-washing consumer product, the Scooba, hit shelves earlier this year.
On the military side, Angle says that over 500 of the company's PackBots have been deployed in several Middle Eastern nations. Their function, he says, is to find and diffuse bombs – a difficult and extremely dangerous task for human soldiers. The robots do this hundreds of times per day. "They can go into buildings ahead of soldiers and do the more dangerous scouting work," Angle says. After seeing them in action, soldiers have flooded iRobot's customer service department with phone calls and letters of gratitude.
Consumers' desire to thank the tech firm for a job well done does more than validate the work of employees like White – it inspires them. "Our robot development begins and ends with consumer insights and the vigorous focus on solving real consumer problems," he says. "A testament to Colin's leadership style is the fact that, though he has very strong opinions, his voice and all voices are equalized by fact."
One employee feedback-gathering tool used at iRobot that supports White's claim that fact is king is a "wiki," a do-it-yourself encyclopedia. A high-tech way for employees to ensure their ideas or follow-up to past ideas are saved for future reference, the wiki is a hit with Angle. "It's just a great knowledge capture tool that ensures that ideas generated during meetings and brainstorming sessions aren't thrown away on a sticky note," he says.
Besides building cool stuff and knowing their ideas are being stored and put to good use, employees like the fact that iRobot offers them an employee stock option plan – a big way for the firm's leadership to show that their expertise at all levels is valued. However, Angle admits that the company's benefits package is not its primary employee motivator. The true stimulant is the organization's forward-thinking work with the mechanical, electrical and software elements that engender its robots. "Our quality of work, the inherent challenges and our collegial environment – that's what motives people," Angle says. "They also appreciate the fact that we're open with our financials."
Having a workforce that is appropriately rewarded for its commitment to iRobot's mission and values has resulted in a unique synergy among work teams. This, Angle says, is not only the goal, it's necessary due to the nature of the company's products. "I think our teams are multidisciplinary because robots are fundamentally multidisciplinary," he says. "Plus, our marketing function operates differently than at other companies. Typically, you have R&D work on the product, and then it's given to marketing to figure out how to package it for the audience. We bring marketing in early, during the ideation moment.
These benefits apply to full-time employees or part-time employees working 24 or more hours per week except as noted. Eligibility begins your first day of employment.
Medical Plan
Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New England (BCBS) HMO and Point of Service (POS) Plans for New England residents;
Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BCBS) Preferred Provider Network (PPO) for Non New England residents.
Dental Plan
Dental Blue with Blue Cross/ Blue Shield – standard dental coverage includes orthodontic coverage.
Vision Plan
Vision Service Plan (VSP) offers annual routine eye exam eye wear allowances
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
Health Care Flexible Spending Account – save up to $3,000 on a pre-tax basis
Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account – save up to $5,000 on a pre-tax basis
Basic Life and AD&D Insurance
Company paid. An amount equal to 1 times your basic salary; minimum of $50,000 to a maximum of $200,000.
Supplemental Life Insurance
Employee paid. Elect Optional life insurance coverage in $10,000 increments; subject to minimum/maximum amount
401(k) Plan
Robust plan offering traditional (pre-tax) and Roth (post-tax) options. Plan has discretionary annual match that for the past several years has been 50 cents on every dollar you contribute to the 401(k) plan up to the first 6% of your salary.
Short Term Disability
Employer paid and eligibility for the first 90 days of disability
Long Term Disability
Employer paid and eligibility after 90 days of any one period of disability; subject to a maximum amount
Vacation
Accrual is per pay period and earn vacation based on the following schedule:
0 to 5 years of service: 3 weeks
> 5 years if service: 4 weeks
Sick Time
Accrual per pay period up and earn 10 days per year
Holidays
Eleven paid holidays – includes nine designated holidays and two floating holidays
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Free, confidential services include parenting, elder care and work life resources, legal assistance, stress management, career assessment, financial and nutrition consultation provided to all employees and their household members.
Tuition Reimbursement – not available to temporary iRobot employees
Tuition Reimbursement available for job-related courses and progress toward a degree in a relevant field
Smoking Cessation Reimbursement - not available to temporary iRobot employees
Reimbursement for smoking cessation related costs; subject to a maximum amount
Extra Perks
iRobot employees enjoy a variety of other benefits including:
Free on-site gym
Wellness events
529 Plan
Discounts on home and auto insurance
Chair massage
Credit union services
Dry cleaning service
On-site car detailing
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