APAC-Norco Integration was founded on core principles that prioritize efficient design that is optimized for each clients unique needs. Essentially, we, as a team, saw a problem with end user clients purchasing equipment from OEM’s, not being able to effectively integrate into existing processes in-house, which in turn create bottlenecks in terms of equipment downtime, learning curve, and maintenance. As a result, clients do not generate the required ROI to justify the equipment, and in many cases, equipment is discarded as a written off loss. At the end, the OEM is benefitting from the sale of a unit, but the client does not have a fitted solution for their needs. In many cases, plants are unsure of what exact requirements equipment may have to successfully integrate into existing process. Through the end of this cycle, the end-user client, faces a steep cost of integration, via the OEM, sending support, which then extends the ROI timeline, and consistently acts as a cost on the plant for service and maintenance which the OEM bills. Traditionally, agriculture has always lagged behind other industries in terms of automation and robotics due to the high cost of implementation, against the long-term ROI in agriculture. We have started out as a integrator working in agriculture and continue to pride ourselves as considering agricultural solutions a core specialty.

At APAC-Norco we undertake custom integration and design with each client’s specific needs in mind. Essentially, we act as an intermediary between the OEM and the end-user client, asking the right questions, taking the technical learning curve of industrial integration out of the hands of the client, and working with OEM’s to provide the plant with a custom, and fitted turnkey solution that integrates with their process seamlessly. Our design values are based around providing a solution that the plant has a full grasp over. This means, providing the plant with all possible avenues for self-service, training, and support until the plant finds themselves with the confidence, through the end of the project’s timeline, to perform consistent preventative maintenance. This lowers the cost of integration for the client in a few keyways, for one, the client is able to do their own part replacement, maintenance, and support without paying a markup to an OEM. Another benefit is the confidence in technical personnel builds, which allows plants to step away from relying on labor, and rather, utilizing labor for more technical roles as more automation becomes feasible.

We specialize in providing custom robotic solutions that can solve efficiency problems and create value through a faster or more consistent cycle time. We pride ourselves on making robotics simple and effective for even the most non-technically oriented plants. Essentially, providing turnkey solutions integrated with robotic cells like case erection, and palletizing, such that any operator with the basic training provided, would be capable of running and supervising the cell. This provides plants with the confidence to seek higher levels of automation and really start finding themselves looking for more sophisticated solutions, naturally. Building core technical confidence across staff and plant personnel is a central value for our design team. Robotic turnkey solutions can be constrained to be approved in a strict, washdown, and often messy, food and beverage environment. Specifically, we have a high degree of success in being able to reduce labor cost, increase efficiency, and create an effective solution that is risk-averse to the unique problems within a food or beverage process.