30 Projects for 30 Years

Resource Type: Blog |

Today marks 30 years of Patti Engineering.  Back in 1991, three weeks before Sam’s wedding day, he founded a company named after his bride-to-be.  Today, the company is more than 30 employees across three offices.  To celebrate three decades, we’re highlighting 30 projects that we’ve completed over the years.

Over the years, our bread and butter has been system upgrades and conversions.  Whether upgrading from an S5 to an S7 PLC, converting systems like from Rockwell to Siemens, or upgrading old RFID systems, our projects have really run the gamut.

Robotics have always held a strong place in our business; our first project was for FANUC!  Through the years, we’ve done all kinds of applications: from assembly of small parts like piston ringers, application of hazardous materials like sound deadener or underbody sealer, or pick and place applications that reduced cycle time by 30%.

Usually, our projects solve one of three problems: quality, throughput, or safety.  We’ve made quality improvements for grease guns, pharmaceutical patches, and with complex vision inspection systems. We’ve made throughput improvements with a motion control upgrade, and in a brewery.  Oftentimes, the upgrades make improvements in multiple categories, like quality and safety in this bakery.

We’ve always tried to stay on the leading edge of technology.  Lately, those projects have included using virtual commissioning and predictive data.

Whether using new technology or old, we strive to come up with the best solution for our client’s needs.  Sometimes that means coming up with unconventional solutions like running a VM to solve an obsolescence problem, running SCADA without internet, or interfacing a visual basic server with a PLC and a printer.

Given our headquarters in Detroit, you might be surprised by how many different types of industries we have solid experience in.  We have quite a history in the Water/Wastewater industry, including our ongoing relationship with the City of Fair Oaks Ranch, TX, upgrading the sewer controls at Lathrup Village, and a major system upgrade for the Tennessee Valley Authority Dam Spillway.

We also have a strong history with sortation projects, with a number of garment sortation projects and a shipping logistics revenue recovery project.

We’ve done other unexpected applications, like the rescue elevator at the Statue of Liberty, a field goal kicking trade show attraction, worm packaging for a bait company, and golf ball dispensers at Drive Shack.

This list is nowhere near exhaustive (we’ve completed well over 1,000 projects in the last ten years alone).  But as you can see, after 30 years, there’s not much you can throw at us that we haven’t seen before.  We’re always growing our expertise and learning new ways to help our clients meet and exceed their objectives.  If we can help find a modern automation solution for you,

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Sam Hoff's Bio

President

Samuel M. Hoff, Chief Executive Officer, started the company from his home in 1991. Since then he’s expanded his business to more than 35 college-degreed engineers. Patti Engineering has engineering offices in Auburn Hills, MI, Austin, TX, and Indianapolis, IN.