Ai In Manufacturing

Why Reshoring Is Quietly Reshaping Who Buys Packaging Equipment

Reshoring's headline is jobs. The quieter story is a whole new category of packaging equipment buyer — building a line from scratch, making a seven-figure decision, and shopping on trust because they have no other way to shop.

Emerson, FOBA, and Mitsubishi Electric signal a new wave of purpose-built industrial AI deployments

Three major manufacturers are embedding AI directly into automation hardware, from fault-detecting software agents to laser workstations and US-made IT cooling

IntelliFinishing Systems Adapt Better When Labor is Short

Labor availability has become one of the most persistent operational challenges across manufacturing. Recruiting skilled workers, particularly in specialized roles like painting and finishing, is difficult in most markets. For facilities running traditional finishing lines, a single absent employee

Vention and FANUC America unify industrial and collaborative robots on a single AI platform

Vention and FANUC America have integrated FANUC's full robot portfolio into Vention's AI-driven platform, letting manufacturers design, simulate, and deploy aut

How Many Product Painting Recipies Do You Need?

For custom coaters and some OEM manufacturers, finishing recipe flexibility is not a luxury. It is a core operational requirement. Managing a wide range of part numbers, substrates, and customer specifications means that coating systems must be configurable enough to handle significant variation whi

What is a friction driven conveyor used in finishing?

In finishing environments, conveyor selection has a direct impact on cleanliness, noise levels, maintenance costs, and overall operational efficiency. One technology that draws consistent attention from facility managers and finishing professionals is the friction-driven conveyor, a system built aro

Agentic automation hits enterprise scale: Automation Anywhere, Yaskawa, and KUKA signal a new operating model for industrial AI

From billion-request IT service desks to robots that write their own work orders, agentic AI is moving from pilot to production across manufacturing and operati

AI kaizens, agentic systems, and pricing pressure: what manufacturers are actually doing with industrial AI in 2026

From TE Connectivity's AI vision gains to outcome-based pricing debates, industrial AI is moving from pilot to operational reality across the plant floor.

Most mid-sized manufacturers are stuck in AI pilot purgatory, Kaufman Rossin research finds

73% of manufacturing companies remain in AI testing phases, and not one has reached full operational deployment, per Kaufman Rossin research.

ABB Robotics launches AI-powered visual platform as manufacturers push physical AI and data governance to the front of the automation agenda

ABB Robotics' new AI visual platform, physical AI for mid-market plants, and a data-governance push are converging into a practical 2026 automation agenda.

Technology in manufacturing: the operational trends shaping factory floors in mid-2026

From physical AI to an 80% automation gap, here are the manufacturing technology shifts ops leaders need to act on right now.

73% of mid-market manufacturers are still testing AI, with zero at full deployment

New Kaufman Rossin survey data reveals most mid-market manufacturers are stuck in AI experimentation, held back by siloed data and legacy ERP systems.

Global M&A hits record $2.8 trillion in H1 2026 as industrial manufacturing deal value climbs 28% to $173 billion

Global deal value hit a record $2.8 trillion in H1 2026, up 48% year-on-year, as AI infrastructure, grid modernization, and defense reshape who buys what.

Analog Devices maps the semiconductor case for physical intelligence in industrial automation

ADI's Fiona Treacy lays out how AI-driven physical intelligence and humanoid robotics are reshaping factory systems and semiconductor demand.

IMA Group positions "Cognitive Manufacturing" as the next operating model for industrial production

IMA Group's Cognitive Manufacturing framework, debuted at Interpack 2026, combines cloud AI, edge AI, and robotics to help production teams cut downtime and imp

Robots, AI, and IIoT are reshaping the factory floor, but the real work is in integration

Robotics, AI quality control, and IIoT-driven predictive maintenance are converging in manufacturing, pushing ops leaders to rethink how they buy, deploy, and g

AI and automation's adoption gap: what manufacturers must act on now

80% of U.S. factories have zero automation. New tools and C-suite strategy shifts are changing the calculus for operations teams.

80% of U.S. factories have no automation. Here's what's changing in 2026.

Eight in ten U.S. factories still run without any automation, even as AI vendor activity hits a peak. Here's what's actually moving on the floor.

Automation adoption is surging at trade shows. Most US factories still haven't started.

Record attendance at Automate 2026 and new AI-lab deals signal industry momentum, but 80% of US manufacturing facilities still run zero automation.

Where AI actually delivers in manufacturing: lessons from Automate Live

Panelists from Prolucid, Zebra Technologies, and Reynolds & Moore cut through the hype at Automate Live, pinpointing where industrial AI creates real value.

IMTS 2026 puts industrial AI and automation on the shop floor for enterprise evaluation

Manufacturing technology orders hit $2.19B through April 2026, up 28.9%. IMTS 2026 gives operators direct access to AI, automation, and additive tech.

Most mid-market manufacturers are stuck in AI pilot mode, and their data infrastructure is why

No manufacturer has reached full AI operation, per Kaufman Rossin's survey. Legacy ERP and siloed data are the core blockers to scale.

Chinese industrial robots now reach 148 countries as factory task complexity rises

Chinese-manufactured robots are handling complex factory tasks and shipping to 148 countries, raising urgent questions for global procurement and ops teams.

Robotics in manufacturing: five shifts defining factory floors in mid-2026

Physical AI, a massive automation gap, and a wave of new industrial partnerships are reshaping how manufacturers buy and deploy robotics in 2026.

Four in five U.S. manufacturing facilities have zero automation, here's what's actually blocking AI adoption

Most U.S. plants run with no automation at all, yet executives plan AI expansion. The real barrier isn't budget, it's data hygiene and cybersecurity.

Standard Bots CEO: physical AI is closing the gap between what manufacturers want to automate and what they can

Standard Bots co-founder Evan Beard says physical AI lets manufacturers teach robots by demonstration, not programming, unlocking tasks once dismissed as imposs

Siemens and IFS partner to close the engineering-to-operations gap with industrial AI

Siemens and IFS announced a strategic partnership to connect design, manufacturing execution, and asset lifecycle data in a closed-loop industrial AI platform.

Turkish SME lists AI-powered IIoT and MES platform on EU innovation network, seeking manufacturing partners

A Turkish industrial software firm has posted its modular smart manufacturing platform on the EU's Enterprise Europe Network, targeting manufacturers, OEMs and research institutions.

Industrial automation's AI gap: why 80% of U.S. factories still run with zero automation

80% of U.S. factories have zero automation, even as Honeywell, ABB, and others push AI-driven tools to close the gap.

A3's 2026 automation whitepaper wave signals a shift from fixed hardware to software-defined factory floors

A3 members including Intel, Bosch Rexroth, Cognex, and Zebra are publishing technical guidance that points operations teams toward software-defined, AI-governed