iRobot Corporation: Leading Innovation in Household Robotics

1 iRobot Corporation American Public University BUSN312: Operations Research Dr. Karl Kinkead

2 Abstract The use of robotics in households has emerged into society, with the iRobot Corporation leading the way. The company is the market leader of its competitors and offers innovation and technology as its competitive advantages. The supply chain is outsourced contracted manufacturers that hold high standards and use assembly line human and robotic workers to produce their products. The iRobot Corporation is the world’s leading household vacuum cleaner seller in the world.

3 iRobot Corporation As a full-time stay-at-home mother and student, I am always looking for an easier way to get tasks done more efficiently. The timely task of cleaning the floors in my home has become easier with my latest Christmas present of an iRobot vacuum. The American technology company was “founded in 1990 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology roboticists with the vision of making practical robots a reality, iRobot has sold more than 30 million robots worldwide” (iRobot Corporation 2022). The company has its hand in solving mysteries, changing NASA robots, and aiding military defense. iRobot inspired the first Micro Rovers, which has changed space travel for NASA. The addition of robotics in hospitals, military defense, and in households has positively changed our society. iRobot Home Products The iRobot Corporation offers a wide variety of products for consumers. The Roomba is an automated vacuum cleaning robot that was first released in 2002. The Braava is iRobot’s first floor mopping robot that is designed to work on all hard surface floors. iRobot also offers a hobby robot that allows consumers to experiment with the basic elements of robotics. Root is another robot by iRobot Corporation that is programmed through a tablet or smartphone that helps children learn to code. iRobot: Competition The field of competition is the various vacuum brands such as Dyson, Hoover, and Black & Decker. Most vacuum companies have been around for many decades, but the iRobot Corporation is a leader within the competition due to its leadership of introducing robotics to the vacuum world. According to a New York Times article, the number one recommended vacuum is “the strong, durable, smart-enough iRobot Roomba i3 EVO” (McCabe 2022). The more

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4 conventional vacuum brands cannot keep pace with the “technological innovation has allowed mankind to accomplish incredible feats over the past few decades: we’ve put a man on the moon, made communication between distant parts of the world nearly instantaneous, and developed medical imaging machines which allow doctors to accurately diagnose patients without performing surgery” (Alumni, J. 2016). The success of iRobot Corporation has made it the market leader in household robotics. iRobot: Competitive Advantages The first barrier that iRobot Corporation has had to break is consumer skepticism. The company has overcome the skepticism barrier by proving to buyers that their products are worth the price. The new features of iRobot’s mapping systems are a step above their competitors. The smarter mapping technology software allows the Roomba to know exactly what the map of your home is. It can create a schedule to clean certain areas of your home at certain times. The fact that the new software can also communicate with Amazon Alexa and Google Home makes this another advantage that iRobot has over its competitors. Another feature is that your robot may start making cleaning recommendations for you, such as if it knows you usually clean up after a certain time of day (example 7 p.m.) then the vacuum may ask you if it should start cleaning at that time. A long-term goal of iRobot is to build an elder-care robot that can assist people by helping them to live independently for longer periods. The iRobot Corporation “has managed to capture roughly 80% of the robotic vacuum market as well as a sizable chunk of the overall vacuum market” (Murphy, M. 2020). The company has been at the top of its competition through innovation and technology. iRobot: Manufacturing Process and Scheduling

5 The actual manufacturing process must be a well-kept secret among the manufacturing companies and the iRobot Corporation because there is no detailed information publicly available at this time. Assuming that the robot cleaning systems are created first by designers using 3-D software on computers and then the design goes to the manufacturers. The iRobot Corporation outsources its manufacturing by contract manufacturing companies in China such as Jabil Inc., BYD Company, and Kin Yat (HK) Holdings Limited. These contract manufacturing companies are specialized in high-tech supply chain management, and advanced technologies that build robotics. Each manufacturing company is carefully selected by iRobot based on its supply chain oversight. The company has implemented a Supplier Diversity Program that lists the following objectives: “align program with overall diversity and corporate social responsibility goals, communicate, educate and train on the importance of supplier diversity to key stakeholders, ensure diverse suppliers who are certified and meet standards have equal opportunity in participating in purchasing processes, increase the percentage of diverse suppliers across our organization” (iRobot Corporation 2022). The flow of materials for manufacturing a Roomba is through an assembly line process using a mixture of human employees and robotic employees. An assembly line is best when manufacturing a product that is complex like the iRobot’s Roomba. The scheduling of these separate assembly line positions is unlikely to have many issues considering the high-tech and responsible manufacturing processes that iRobot holds their contracted manufacturers to such high standards. iRobot: Advanced Technology within Production The first step to create an iRobot Roomba is with industrial design. The job of an industrial designer is described as “typically focus on the physical appearance, functionality, and manufacturability of a product, though they are often involved in far more during a development

6 cycle” (IDSA 2022). Once the design is finished, the plans are then brought to life within the manufacturing factories. The iRobot Corporation uses some autonomous robots within their manufacturing process, and it has been successful thus far. All supply chain companies are now benefiting from the rapid use of autonomous robots. They can be programmed to perform tasks with little to no human intervention and can boost the manufacturing process. These robots are becoming more sophisticated and are now working alongside humans to perform job tasks. Conclusion The household robotics is a current trend that has been innovated by the iRobot Corporation. The company uses assembly line manufacturing processes, contracted skilled manufacturers, and autonomous robots to produce their products. The success of iRobot Corporation will continue to be profound with its high demand volumes and groundbreaking technologies.

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7 References Alumni, J. (2016, November 18). IRobot's Roomba: Vacuuming the floor with the competition . Technology and Operations Management. Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-rctom/submission/irobots-roomba-vacuuming-the-floor- with-the-competition/ iRobot Corporation. (2022). History . iRobot. Retrieved April 30, 2022, from https://www.irobot.com/about-irobot/company-information/history McCabe, L. (2022, April 18). The Best Robot Vacuums . The New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-robot-vacuum/ Murphy, M. (2020, August 25). More than just vacuums: IRobot is building the platform for the robots of the future . Protocol. Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://www.protocol.com/irobot-builds-platform-for-future-robots Supply Chain Oversight . iRobot. (n.d.). Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://www.irobot.com/about-irobot/corporate-social-responsibility/responsible- manufacturing What is Industrial Design? IDSA. (2022, March 29). Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://www.idsa.org/what-industrial-design

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