25TH ANNIVERSARY Past and future..
Automation then, now and in the future!
Neil Mead, previous Editor of Automation and ex-Director of Editorial at Datateam Business Media, and currently Head of Marketing at KUKA Robotics, looks back at the technology trends that have shaped the manufacturing industry over the past 25 years since Automation magazine was launched and gives his thoughts about what the future may hold
I
t only seems like yesterday when I joined Datateam Business Media to originally edit Factory Equipment magazine – now known as Factory & Handling Solutions – back in 2006. Over the next 13 years I edited most of the Connecting Industry portfolio of industrial titles at one time or another, taking over as Editor on Automation when Suzanne Gill left the company in 2008. I was then made Managing Editor of the Connecting Industry titles and eventually Director of Editorial across the whole portfolio of Datateam’s trade publications. My background is in journalism, having worked for several publishers on a range of magazines, from mainstream and special-interest consumer products, to more focused and technical publications. I have a very keen interest in engineering and technology, so I enjoy learning about how a new product or solution may help to improve a process. Manufacturing still plays an incredibly important role in our country’s economy, so it always felt good to be reporting on and writing about During my tenure as Editor, I was fortunate to attend many interesting press events and overseas trips, when a regular group of technical journalists would travel together to visit a vendor’s swish new HQ or latest factory, usually followed by a nice meal and some evening entertainment. They were great days – and nights – full of fun and camaraderie, when strong friendships were formed; but, let’s just say: what goes on tour stays on tour!
Interesting developments Coming back to the magazine: there were many interesting developments and huge
56 May 2024 | Automation
Neil Mead, former Editor of Automation magazine
advances in automation technology while I was Editor for over ten years, and I’m excited to see what changes are going to take place in the next ten. It’s great to see Automation magazine celebrating its silver anniversary and I’m sure it will still be at the forefront of the industry during this time and for a long time in the future. It’s an accepted fact that UK manufacturers have traditionally been conservative when it comes to capital expenditure investments, in many cases taking a short-term view and preferring to ‘make-do and mend’, rather than buy new machinery and equipment. This was certainly the case when I started working in the industry, but a number of recent organisations have shown this mindset is changing and the industry is waking up to the fact that in order to remain competitive it has to invest in new technology and take a longer-term view. With increased competition, supply chain issues and a constantly evolving geopolitical picture, plus the uncertainty caused by Brexit and Covid-19 and, more recently, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, re-shoring is once again on the agenda and become a realistic prospect. In order to satisfy this increased demand, manufacturers realise they need to invest and automation is key to remaining we are starting to see more interest and an increase in new technology investments from the industry. Digitalisation and the
stimulated the growth of automation among the various manufacturing sectors by necessitating smarter and more automated solutions, such as robotics and control systems, to improve production processes.
Making a difference
But, automation technology isn’t limited in the future we will also see it being implemented throughout the entire supply chain. Receiving orders, raw material purchasing, manufacturing, transactions will all take place without human intervention. Using software systems and developments such blockchain transactions, the entire process can be automated, making it seamless and
AI technology is developing at a rapid role in giving machines and robots intelligence in the future. We are already seeing some machine learning using improved algorithms starting to be tested by robotics companies, and deep learning technology being implemented in machine vision, so it’s only a matter of time before it in these and other areas.
AM (additive manufacturing/3D printing) is something we’ve seen being mainly used in product design and maintenance, repair and overhaul
automationmagazine.co.uk
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