2019
In 2019, Formlogic partnered with DHR Engineering to design the automation backbone of their autonomous CNC factory in Pittsburgh. Our work established the systems that enabled the company to scale rapidly and secure major funding.
Case Study
CNC Automation
Overview
Reinventing precision manufacturing with a new model for sourcing tight-tolerance parts in the USA
Formlogic is a Pittsburgh-based startup founded to fundamentally rethink how precision metal parts are manufactured and delivered. The premise was clear: tight-tolerance components in the United States were consistently slow to source, expensive to manufacture, and highly dependent on manual processes that did not scale. Aerospace companies in particular faced long lead times and unreliable supply for mission-critical parts.
Formlogic set out to change that with a fully autonomous CNC factory designed to produce parts five times faster and at significantly lower cost. Instead of relying on manual setups, brand-specific ecosystems, or operator knowledge, the factory would follow automation-first principles. Tool logistics, workholding, machine tending, inspection, and material flow all needed to be modeled, optimized, and integrated before the first spindle turned.
To realize this vision, Formlogic partnered with DHR Engineering to design the core automation architecture for their lights-out CNC factory. This work created the operational blueprint that later enabled the company’s significant scale-up and financing.
Problems
Bottlenecks that prevent true autonomy in precision machining
Formlogic’s orders included complex, tight-tolerance parts with frequent changeovers. The limiting factors were not only cycle times. Tool and fixture availability, manual workholding design, non-uniform machine interfaces, and ad hoc material handling created long tails in setup and recovery. Traditional automation cells rely on high quantity orders. Formlogic needed a vendor-neutral automation that could plan, verify, and execute across several machine brands, while keeping tools, fixtures, and work in process synchronized without human intervention.
Recognizing these constraints, Formlogic approached DHR Engineering in mid-2019 with a request to simulate a full autonomous factory in Gazebo and ROS. This digital-first approach was intended to surface integration issues early, establish throughput expectations, and define how different automation subsystems would coordinate once deployed.
Solution
From digital twin to integrated automation
We began by building a full factory simulation in Gazebo with ROS nodes representing machines, robots, AGVs, metrology, and support equipment. This simulation provided a testbed for scheduling policies, queue depths, spindle utilization, and setup change strategies before hardware investments were made.
Our development then focused on four critical enablers:
Centralized tool storage: We designed a system that could deliver any tool to any machine, regardless of brand. The solution supported both HSK63 and CAT40 holders, included RFID-based tracking, presetting integration, and AGV delivery. It ensured tools were always available where needed without operator intervention.
Computational workholding framework: We developed a geometry-driven framework for automatically generating fixture solutions. By using physics-based evaluation, the system could propose clamping and orientation strategies for roughly 90 percent of incoming parts, reducing fixture engineering bottlenecks.
Brand-agnostic machine tending: We standardized tending operations across Doosan, Grob, and DMG machines by creating a unified interface. Functions such as door control, chuck actuation, and cycle start were normalized, allowing one tending recipe to run on multiple machine and controller types.
AGV integration: We integrated AGVs for tool, fixture, and part transport. Navigation combined LiDAR, fiducials and proprietary mechanical docking station for precise positioning. This kept spindles supplied and eliminated non-value-added transfers.
Together, these systems created the backbone of a vendor-neutral, lights-out factory where material, tools, and fixtures moved in sync with scheduling software and machine availability.
Outcomes
From blueprint to scale-up readiness
This project provided Formlogic with a validated factory architecture and measurable flow and changeover performance. It included a tool logistics backbone that works with any machine brand, an algorithmic workholding system covering most new part geometries, and a unified tending interface for a mixed machine fleet. These foundations supported the company’s financing and scale-up. Formlogic went on to raise a 20.4 million dollar Series A in July 2021 and later secured 20 million dollars in equipment financing in February 2024.
Operationally, the site achieved sustained throughput with a lean team while onboarding a high-mix job stream. Monthly run-rate reached approximately one million dollars with only about twenty employees. This confirmed the core objective: removing non-value-add labor from setups, transfers, and part handling so that capacity scaled with spindles, not headcount.
From our perspective, the project demonstrated the value of designing automation at the system level rather than as isolated cells. It reinforced our belief that sustainable automation is about creating architectures that remain flexible across machine brands, part mixes, and factory growth. The lessons from Formlogic continue to shape how we approach new engagements, where we stand by the principle that automation should enable growth through smarter systems, not workforce size.
If you're facing throughput challenges or planning your next production ramp — let’s talk. We work with hardware teams who build things that matter, and need their automation to move fast and perform flawlessly.