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Garmin: Into the Layers

Like most OEMs, Garmin embodies its product development in a "skunk works" of sorts, but few avionics manufacturers are as vertically integrated—from concept to fulfillment—under one roof.

[Illustration by Carlo Stagna]
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Garmin's Olathe, Kansas facility exemplifies extensive vertical integration, encompassing R&D, design, manufacturing (merging human and robotic precision), and distribution all under one roof.
  • Products undergo rigorous multi-stage testing, including environmental (EMC, vibration), destructive, and human factors simulation, to ensure extreme reliability and safety for critical aviation applications.
  • The company demonstrates a continuous commitment to innovation in aviation safety, developing advanced features like Autoland, Smart Glide, and Smart Rudder Bias to assist pilots and expand the safety envelope.
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For someone accustomed to the sounds and vibrations of an aircraft factory, the quiet hum feels nearly imperceptible at first. The industry surrounding you takes place in vignettes, where one person sits in front of an autoclave, another pirouettes fingers around an electrical board, and still another checks the tiniest bits of solder as they line up in place.

And robots join human hands. One twists around an assembly, articulating in Muppet-like motions. Another tests the next assembly by dunking it over and over into a bath—be it electrolyte or another kind of liquid: water. A third traverses the floor taking one basket to another point on the assembly line.

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