With more than 750 exhibitors, over 125 conference sessions, and about 25,000 registered attendees, the Automate 2023 trade show this week was the latest demonstration of the growing interest in industrial automation and robotics, despite economic concerns.
“So much education still has to happen,” said Jennifer Samples, vice president at AMR provider ForwardX Robotics. “We have three levels of clients: people who know they need automation but don’t know where to begin, others who have some automation, and those who are the most sophisticated and want the latest and greatest. All three can be in the same company.”
“We learn the [customer’s] entire process upfront,” added Chris Harbert, sales director at ForwardX. “The robot hardware and software have to help business transformation and show actual ROI [return on investment]. We also ask each individual, ‘How does the robot help you?’”
