{"id":58441,"date":"2022-05-11T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/?p=58441"},"modified":"2023-05-08T10:56:39","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T14:56:39","slug":"behind-the-scenes-with-garmin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/electronics\/behind-the-scenes-with-garmin\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Scenes with Garmin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Garmin <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Garmin\u2019s Carly Hysell, Riley Swickard and Dave Dunn at company headquarters in Olathe, Kansas.<\/span>\n David Schmidt<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

Google Maps directs me onto Garmin Way, and I absorb the scale of what I\u2019m seeing. A seven- story tower punctuates an otherwise two-story landscape ahead. Maintained grounds, ornamental trees and curving sidewalks convey a campus atmosphere. Since 1989, Garmin<\/a> has evolved from two electrical engineers into a publicly traded juggernaut of technology manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s something odd about the triple-stacked recycle bins. Then, I spot a touchscreen and wheels. As with everything at Garmin\u2019s Olathe, Kansas, headquarters, I\u2019m told that in-house engineers \u201cenhanced\u201d this otherwise off-the-shelf robot by scanning the massive factory floor and loading bespoke cartography into its memory. This, plus the robot\u2019s built-in lidar sensors, lets it deliver materials to its human colleagues, sans collisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The art of leveraging technologies to build products is evident everywhere. It extends to the industrial design department, where 3D printers and industrial artists create prototypes; the\u00a0automated factory floor, where robotic arms hammer out repetitive tasks and free humans to do quality-control work; the automated raw-materials warehouse, where robots handle the heavy lifting; and the research and development labs, where engineers create environmental torture chambers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, if Garmin doesn\u2019t find the weak links in the more than 235 million products it has produced in its six factories, its customers will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this started in the mid-1980s, when Gary Burrell, an American electrical engineer, and Min Kao, a Taiwanese American electrical engineer, were working for the King Radio Corp. It was an avionics company here in Olathe. The US government was building the Global Positioning System, and Burrell and Kao saw game-changing potential. King Radio didn\u2019t appreciate their vision, so the two founded ProNav in 1989 before rebranding to Garmin (that\u2019s \u201cGar\u201d plus \u201cMin\u201d) in 1991.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gamble paid off. In 1990, the company released the GPS 100, the first recreational-level marine GPS receiver. In 1994, Garmin\u2019s GPS 185 was its first combined chart plotter and sonar, soon followed by the first color GPS chart plotter, the GPS220.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garmin simultaneously engaged the aviation, outdoors and fitness markets, plus government-contract work. In 1998, the company began making aftermarket navigation systems for cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garmin went public on December 8, 2000. Business skyrocketed in the mid-2000s when Nuvi navigation systems\u2014with touchscreen interfaces, vector cartography and, eventually, built-in autorouting capabilities\u2014made Garmin a household name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Garmin <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Garmin\u2019s warehouse employs robots to do the heavy lifting.<\/span>\n David Schmidt<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

Despite the advent of smartphones and automotive infotainment systems, Garmin grew annual revenue from a little more than $1 billion in 2005 to more than $4.1 billion in 2020. The business reinvested the boom-year earnings into infrastructure, future technologies and intellectual property, while focusing on how the company could leverage its existing expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2006, Garmin released its first multifunction display\u2014the GPSMap 3000\u2014and by 2007, it incorporated touchscreen displays on the flagship GPSMap 5000. Autopilots arrived in 2008, chirp-enabled fish finders in 2011, all-glass helms and marine-specific wearables in 2013, multibeam sonar in 2015, Doppler-enabled radar in 2016, and in 2018, live scanning sonar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company also made key acquisitions\u2014including Fusion Entertainment<\/a>, Navionics<\/a> and EmpirBus, and Vesper Marine<\/a>\u2014that extended the reach to onboard entertainment, mobile cartography and digital switching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe build our marine equipment in Taiwan,\u201d says Dave Dunn, Garmin\u2019s senior director of marine sales, as we head toward Garmin\u2019s US aviation factory. \u201cBut this will give you an idea of what our factories are like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We pull on carbon-fiber threaded shirts and grounded slippers that prevent static electricity buildup. Then, we enter an air lock. Walls of air nozzles, each angled differently, blast us clean, and we exit onto a seemingly infinite factory floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brian Junkins, Garmin\u2019s team leader of operations and engineering, guides us to the head of the first of six production lines, where machines attach microchips and other components to printed circuit boards, starting with the smallest bits and progressing to the larger hardware. Microchips and components are organized on big reels (imagine old reel-to-reel films but with componentry in place of imagery) that feed the assembly machines. Other machines precisely dispense solder or glue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junkins explains that Garmin catalogs each component\u2014\u201craw materials\u201d in Garmin parlance\u2014with lot, date and manufacturer codes, providing traceability if something fails one of many tests. Garmin employs an interconnected testing process called the \u201csafety stack,\u201d in which certain failed tests stop the production line. These begin with optical inspections of each installed component, some of which are separated by only one-four-thousandth of an inch of silicone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A staircase leads to the aviation department\u2019s repair section. Toward the back, there\u2019s a warehouse. Raw materials are sorted in stacked plastic bins that stretch several stories high. Humans place orders and robots handle fulfillment, Amazon style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I meet \u201cArt\u201d and \u201cJack,\u201d two robotic arms that Garmin engineers playfully nicknamed and enhanced with software to perform repetitive tasks. The arms move fast\u2014and with pinpoint precision. I turn to my left and see three stacked recycling bins before realizing that what I\u2019m looking at is also a robot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we move something on the line, we have to let the [robotics] team know so they can update the maps,\u201d Junkins says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"circuit <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Completed circuit boards are moved to the next stop on the assembly line.<\/span>\n David Schmidt<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

At the industrial-design group, artists, designers and machinists create full-scale prototypes using 3D printers, CNC machines and their hands. This group, whose backgrounds range from ornament-making to auto-body repair, collaborate with the company\u2019s product engineers to create industrial forms that support Garmin\u2019s functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brian Sandefur, Garmin\u2019s manager of mechanical engineering, shows me the company\u2019s torture chambers. He walks me through the vibration-and shock-testing rooms, showcasing speaker-type devices that create computer-controlled vibration profiles. Equipment is subjected to hours of testing per axis, up to 40 g of shock. Other rooms allow engineers to conduct similar tests at extreme temperatures (minus 40 degrees to 176 degrees Fahrenheit) or with ultraviolet light. Other machines yield salty fog and prolonged tumbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sandefur says that all Garmin-built products are subjected to these tests, both here and at the other factories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2-mile running and walking loop circumnavigates the campus to transit from building to building, and I notice picnic areas and grills. A central courtyard celebrates Garmin\u2019s heritage and future with flora from Taiwan and Kansas. Bike racks punctuate several outdoor spaces. Most employees are wearing Garmin-built smartwatches\u2014not (necessarily) because the people work here but because the watches are the right tools for their lifestyles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greg Groener, Garmin\u2019s marine product line manager, shows me around the marine department, where radars, sounders, multifunction displays and other gear are being bench-tested in the hardware laboratory. There\u2019s an electromagnetic compatibility chamber\u2014one of five in Olathe\u2014that engineers use to ensure that Garmin products meet the standards of the Federal Communications Commission. There\u2019s also a software laboratory where features are created and tested, and where real-world problems are replicated and solved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final stop is a conference room where I meet Jarrod Seymour, Garmin\u2019s vice president of the marine segment. Seymour has been with Garmin since 1999 and, like many marine-group employees, is an experienced boater. \u201cGarmin\u2019s second product was for marine\u2014we\u2019ve greatly expanded since then,\u201d he jokes, referring to the GPS 100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While he\u2019s talking about chart plotters, which grew from 8-inch screens in 1994 to today\u2019s 24-inch displays, I realize that the exponential change in size holds true for Garmin itself. The company that began with two forward-thinking engineers now involves 80 international locations and more than 17,000 employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bit later, I ease the rental car back onto Garmin Way and study my mirrors: The construction cranes, robots and skilled workers aren\u2019t visible, but the innovations unfurling behind these walls will be affecting navigation for decades.\u2009\u2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steps for Perspective<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Garmin\u2019s headquarters occupies some 93 acres, and the company just announced plans to acquire another 193 acres. My personal Garmin watch counted 10,793 steps (roughly 5.6 miles) during my campus tour. Still unclear of the scale? There\u2019s an in-house Starbucks and a dedicated Garmin-built app for ordering and paying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take the next step:<\/strong> garmin.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Take an inside look at how Garmin turns ideas into tech.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":58442,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"David Schmidt","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"157","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"From a sprawling campus to specialized rooms with extreme temperatures, Garmin has all the necessary resources to be a leader in marine electronics.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","sponsored_url":"","social_share":true,"ad_targeting":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true},"categories":[157],"tags":[167,359,292,1973,1126,727],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58441"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}