The manufacturing industry is experiencing a radical shift from the mass production of near-identical products in the early days of Henry Ford. Rather than having “a car painted any colour that he wants, so long as it is black,” today, people want to have products that are unique and reflect their personal tastes.

The automation industry is growing at a rapid pace, with the market predicted to expand even more so, within the next 10 years. As industries move toward and implement processes that align with robotics, automation is the clear way of the future. Industrial automation enables businesses to streamline their manufacturing and operation processes with accuracy and speed.

When people think of automation and robotics they often assume that it is out-of-sight and operating in a lab or warehouse far away. But the truth is that they might be coming to your streets very soon. Self driving cars sound like something straight out of a science fiction novel to most people, but these machines will most likely be on the roads within the next couple years.

There has been a lot of talk surrounding the topic of robotics and automation in manufacturing for the past number of years, if not decades. This subject has now become a reality since the beginning of the twenty-first century, but for most of that time robots were limited to large scale manufacturing operations. Those who were able to afford automated machines benefited from it increasing the gap between them and smaller companies.