In this exclusive interview with James Swanson, CNC Product Manager at Stiles
Machinery and HOMAG Machinery, we delve into the innovative ORRA™
automation cell. This robotic solution revolutionizes North American woodworking
shops by enhancing machine utilization, increasing productivity, and minimizing
downtime. Discover how ORRA™ simplifies integration, boosts efficiency, and
adapts to both large and small shop environments.
WPU: Can you give us a clear, real-world explanation of what the ORRA™ automation cell actually does — in plain language?
James Swanson: ORRA™ is a solution that brings consistency and flexibility to North American woodworking shops. Largely focused on nested-based manufacturers, the robotic system identifies parts that have been transferred to the outfeed table of nested-
based CNC machines, automatically unloads the parts, transfers parts and programs into dowel insertion machines, buffers parts within the cell to ensure the CNC machines are constantly cutting, organizes and feeds finished parts out of the cell, manages offcuts and scrap—all while decreasing the system’s dependence upon direct labor.
WPU: A lot of shops seem to worry about introducing robotics because they worry about integration, programming robots and imagine long downtimes when something goes wrong. What has the reality been when it comes to programming and reliability of the ORRA™ cells?
James Swanson: Here we have taken a page from the OEM CNC world and designed a robotic solution that creates its own operating instructions and makes decisions on the fly. It programs itself. We largely employ a “meet-you-where-you-are” approach to integrating with your current software. If you have a solid command of common cabinet design software and can output machine programs and .DXF files, you can operate an ORRA™ solution.
Uptime is a strength of any industrial robot. When you pair that with camera systems, field service, virtual service, and pre-programmed recovery routines, operator intervention and subsequent downtime are minimized.
WPU: For shops that are worried automation is too hard to integrate with existing equipment or not viable for smaller shop, how does a system like the ORRA™ actually fit into shops with an existing CNC?
James Swanson: Brownfield integration is a strength of the ORRA™ solution. The components of each solution are similar (robot, vision system, end-of-arm tool, conveyance, buffer structures), but how they are configured and deployed differs from manufacturer to manufacturer. This makes the solution realistic and advantageous for both brownfield and greenfield opportunities.
WPU: Can you walk through the biggest time-savers and productivity gains shops see when they move from manual unloading/sorting to an automated ORRA™ cell?
James Swanson: Most assume the answer is labor savings. Although reallocation of labor resources is a large part of the equation, it is the system’s significant increase in machine utilization behind early productivity gains. The CNC doesn’t sit idle waiting for parts to be labeled or unloaded; it doesn’t wait for raw material delivery or manual loading of programs, foot pedal presses, or button pushes. The dowel machine receives a steady supply of parts and programs, parts are buffered to keep the CNC in the cut during bursts of dowel machine overcapacity, it can run over breaks and lunch, and parts quickly and effectively exit the cell when complete. The system simply paces itself at a more efficient rate than humans are capable of.
WPU: Vision systems, sensors, and software are a big part of this. How does the robot handle irregularly shaped parts coming off of a CNC, and how smart is it at dealing with small parts, and/or parts that didn’t survive the nesting process?
James Swanson: The end-of-arm tooling is key and designed to handle parts coming off a router, meaning they are shaped, machined, and drilled. The system knows where these features are within each workpiece and strategically places its vacuum grippers around each feature allowing for fast, accurate, efficient, and safe handling of workpieces. The system shines with smaller parts, as it’s engineered to pick up as many as four parts at a time, further increasing its efficiency.
The system also stands out for how it handles miscut parts, parts with lost labels, or parts that moved during routing. When these are encountered by the system (and the reality is they will be encountered within a nested-based operation), they are automatically identified and collected in a specific area by the robot for review while the system remains in full production. Minimal operator intervention is required.
WPU: For a shop that’s never had robotics before, what is the process like? How customized can these cells get?
James Swanson: The technology is quickly moving to the forefront, but most woodworking shops don’t yet employ robotics, so don’t feel like you are behind the times. The sales process is different than what you might know from buying a stand alone machine, like a CNC.
We create your ideal solution together by working through a series of discussions, site visits, and weekly touch points. This allows us to deeply understand the value streams you have working on your shop floor and create solutions specific to your business. Multiple layout iterations follow, along with cycle time analysis, and capacity calculations.
Since we strive to drive the machines integrated with the robot and the robot itself to maximum operating efficiency, we can become very creative with the customer during the pre-sale process. If the robot has extra time available, we will work with you to fill its capacity. For instance, we’ve used excess robot capacity to tend additional machines, light sort parts to bring additional efficiency to a manual edge bander, clean machines, and even perform basic maintenance and system checks on the robot itself.
WPU: Is this something attendees would see in action at IWF, and what are you planning to highlight there that people won’t want to miss?
James Swanson: Yes! The Stiles booth at IWF 2026 will feature a complete automation cell including raw material storage and retrieval, nesting with automatic pre-label application, robotic unloading of parts from the nest, feeding of parts out and receiving them back from an edgebander, robotic feeding of a dowel insertion machine, and robotic sorting for assembly featuring an outfeed of assembly-ready cabinet “microstacks.”
You won’t want to miss seeing the system in action. The sorting for assembly solution is sure to be one of the highlights of the event.
