My 8 Takeaways from Automate 2022

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Three years in the past, I used to be given by our buddies at A3 a cool wanting “Automate – Detroit 2020” t-shirt. Identical to the caps they by no means give that had been made for the workforce ending up shedding the skilled league’s closing, my t-shirt will probably be a eternally anomaly. Automate 2020 by no means occurred. We needed to wait till 2022 to dwell it… and it was nice! Listed below are some very private (and thus biased) takeaways. If you wish to get a extra journalistically appropriate and exhaustive assessment of the present, I invite you to have a look at what professionals like Steve and Eugene write.

1. I Missed the Individuals Behind the Robots
Automate 2022 was a possibility to reconnect with our personal workforce members and with many enterprise companions who helped us develop through the covid years. Everyone knows it by now : it’s technically doable to collaborate remotely. However all of that work has been doable as a result of there was already a stable relationship and belief stage we had inbuilt individual earlier than. We love robots and what they will do for us. We love much more the individuals behind the robots and it felt actually good to spend time collectively in individual.
2. New Faces, Extra Innovation
My first impression whereas coming into the present ground was “wow, there are lots of new gamers and new faces right here this time!” And that’s nice information to see that inflow of expertise and innovation into robotics and automation. That facet felt extra essential than within the earlier editions of Automate.
3. Producers Love Cobot Purposes
Greater than 2 years in the past, we acquired on a brand new part of our evolution and began constructing Cobot Purposes from our Plug & Play Elements. At Automate, it grew to become clear that this technique is now in full movement with Palletizing, Screwdriving and Machine Tending occupying the Robotiq sales space and our guests’ consideration. Producers get it. Lots of them don’t even know what a cobot is, however they completely perceive how these Purposes may be deployed simply on their ground to do work for them they cannot discover individuals to do anymore.
4. Machine Store Homeowners and Engineers get the Machine Tending Answer
The earlier level was very true for the CNC Machine Tending Answer that we launched on the primary day. Machine Store homeowners, engineers and machinists completely acquired it after they noticed it working. In the event that they had been there, it’s as a result of they wish to automate that job. All of them noticed the 2 issues that we’re fixing :

Connecting the cobot to various, generally outdated machine
Designing and programming these purposes is all the time appear less complicated that it’s

They usually all preferred the simplicity and magnificence of the strategy. 

5. Lean Robotics is Changing into a Traditional
I used to be pleasantly shocked by the quantity of people that got here to me, thanking me for writing Lean Robotics… or having been given the ebook as a part of their onboarding course of after they began a brand new job within the robotics trade. It makes me really feel that I did one thing helpful 5 years in the past by organizing and sharing that information that we had constructed over our first decade at Robotiq. By the best way, when you’re one in all them, please go write a assessment on Amazon! 🙂
6. Our Ecosystem Need again the RUC
The Robotiq Consumer Convention (RUC) was a yearly occasion that we did in Quebec Metropolis for 4 years. It was very distinctive within the trade: mixing Robotiquois, companions and finish customers from across the globe, with a powerful emphasis on hands-on & peer studying, late night time programming (…and perhaps a little bit of partying). We gained’t do a RUC in 2022 sadly due to the journey restrictions globally. However I had dozens of individuals asking us to carry it again. Let’s cross our fingers for an easier-to-predict setting subsequent 12 months…
7. Logistics is Invading Manufacturing
To resolve the booming e-commerce operational challenges, there was a bonanza of investments in robotics for logistics over the previous years. Many startups funding, mergers and acquisitions occurred. And lots of of those firms had been there regardless of a conventional give attention to manufacturing at Automate. Clearly, there’s an overlap between logistics and manufacturing. Many giant producers have warehouses as a part of their operations and all factories obtain and ship items. It is going to be fascinating to see how that innovation and cash is put to work and percolate into the manufacturing world within the coming years.
8. Traders are … however Cautious
There have been dozens of buyers and funding bankers strolling the present. All of them see the macro-trends that may make automation develop ever quicker within the coming years : labor is more durable to seek out, wages are rising, know-how is getting extra highly effective and simpler to make use of. All of them ask the identical query : are you providing a robot-as-a-service mannequin? They usually all begin to notice {that a} wholesome robotics enterprise at scale is tough to drag off. So there’s some huge cash on the market however the bar to get funding is getting larger. And a few secretly hope that the market slows down a bit so the valuations modify to a justifiable stage. Let’s see what the long run holds!
All in all, I had a blast at Automate 2022! I wish to thank the Robotiq Group who made it work, the companions and prospects who got here to debate and the organisers at A3.
Subsequent cease: Automatica in Munich in 2 weeks. See you there!

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