This story was made possible through support from TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, which enhances economic empowerment growth through the fostering of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology and life science-based companies in Maryland. Learn more at tedcomd.com. All stories are independently reported, with no partner review.
Baltimore’s industrial glory days might be gone, but tucked away in Pigtown, a small shop is retooling for the future.
Since 2008, Harbor Designs and Manufacturing has churned out everything from hair stylers to medical devices to rail equipment. To keep up with firms overseas, the team is embracing robotics to make production more affordable.
“We’re not going to compete with Chinese labor rates,” COO Josh Barnes said. “The big augmenter is going to be robotics.”
In 2024, the company secured a state manufacturing grant to purchase a robotic arm for production. But don’t fret — the robot isn’t here to take anyone’s job. Known as a “cobot,” or collaborative robot, it handles tedious steps in the assembly process to help human workers, not replace them.
For now, the team is still proving the concept. They’re starting small, using the cobot to handle packaging for select products. That’s largely because the cobot’s skills stop there: the machine can’t handle precise work.
“The goal is to have a bank of these,” Barnes said, “for small-batch production that are just lowering labor rates a little bit.”
Eventually, the team hopes to graduate to purpose-built robots for larger projects. That goal won’t come cheap, especially considering its single starter arm already cost $15,000.
Harbor Designs and Manufacturing has served over 450 companies in its nearly two decades of operation, including startups and established firms.
Barnes holds office hours at Johns Hopkins University’s Pava Center to advise on product design, which has helped with landing customers. He’s played a similar mentoring role at TEDCO and the Maryland Business Opportunity Center.
“Every once in a while,” Barnes said, “those folks graduate and [their startups] become actual projects that we can work on.”
Scroll on for a look inside Harbor Designs and Manufacturing and the startups it’s supporting.
