FEATURE Smart factories & software


INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION THE EMERGENCE OF EUROPE’S NEXT


THE EMERGENCE OF EUROPE’S NEXT INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION


Fernando Colás, chief executive  Automation Europe, says the next wave of industrial progress will see the transition from control to coexistence, where people, machines and the planet work together towards a shared purpose


F or more than 200 years,


manufacturing has been built upon the single principle of control. It  supply chains, but it was designed for a predictable world. Today, as Europe’s manufacturers face


energy uncertainty, labour shortages, and mounting sustainability pressures, a new industrial model is emerging: one that  - providing a framework in which people, machines, and the planet work together, through autonomy and collaboration, towards a shared purpose. Since the Industrial Revolution, manufacturers have been working on gaining ever greater control – over their machines, processes, resources, and manpower. The introduction of the steam engine in the late 1700s allowed factories to run machinery  time. Control has powered mass production and enabled global supply chains, but it is reaching its limits.  need to predict it. Yet, as Ikuo Tateishi, president of the Human Renaissance Institute and grandson of OMRON’s founder, Kazuma Tateishi, highlighted at Osaka  predictable’. As a society, we face climate volatility,


energy insecurity, demographic contraction, and geopolitical fragmentation. In Europe, energy costs are high, labour is scarce, and global competition is intense. In this landscape, success will depend not on harnessing control to accelerate scale or speed, but on our ability to combine technology, human values, and collaboration into a more resilient model of progress. The key is replacing the pursuit of control with adaptive, co-created networks that connect


10 February 2026 | Automation


people, machines, and the planet. 


predicted that society would evolve from a focus  systems that can self-organise and learn. He   balance. We now see his theory unfolding in factories


around the world. Machines that sense, decide, and adapt in real time, production systems that respond dynamically to variation, and factories that share operational data to improve energy  This machine autonomy is not about removing people, but amplifying their intent. Moving from  that listens, collaborates, and creates space for human creativity and purpose.


Six shifts toward a coexistence economy  fundamental rethink of how manufacturing is designed and run. The path ahead is not a single innovation, but a connected transformation across technology, culture, and collaboration. Europe’s manufacturing future depends on  to systemic resilience - moving beyond pure productivity to systems that can adapt, predict disruption, and remain stable in volatile conditions. Manufacturers also need to move from competition to co-creation, collaborating across industries, governments, and research to solve shared challenges and accelerate innovation for the greater good.


In addition, we must move from linear


production to circular design, replacing take– make–dispose models with systems that reduce waste, recover materials, and regenerate energy. At the same time, we must also shift from central control to distributed intelligence, enabling


Machine autonomy is not about removing people, but amplifying their intent


autonomous, connected systems that learn locally but improve globally, thereby increasing agility and resilience across the system. As automation advances, the focus must   systems that people can understand and oversee. Finally, predictability must give way     manufacturing model where people, technology,  resilient value.


Every industrial revolution has been an upgrade of our collective operating system, and   While success will rely on industry, technology, and society evolving together, the political and economic climate in many regions already favours protectionism over collaboration. Together, we must highlight our shared purpose and build   There are also legitimate concerns around job displacement, data security, and ethical AI, all of which must be addressed sympathetically and with transparency. We need to share the message  with machines, but reconnecting technology to purpose. If control was the language of the 20th century,  of industrial progress will be built on a more sustainable, human, and resilient way of creating value – and Europe has the potential to lead this progress globally.


OMRON Industrial Automation Europe industrial.omron.co.uk


automationmagazine.co.uk


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