The Automate 2022 Show and Conference celebrated the most successful event in its history, setting new records for registrants, exhibit booths and online engagement during its four-day run June 6-9, 2022, in Detroit, Michigan. The show organizer, the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), expects next year to be even bigger with nearly three-quarters of an expanded show floor already booked for Automate’s return to Detroit, May 22-25, 2023.

Association for Advancing Automation (A3) expanded floor space for Automate

2023 after Automate 2022 in Detroit resulted with 24,000 registrants,

600 exhibitors, and 75% of booths already sold for next year

“Automate 2022 exceeded our most optimistic expectations,” said Jeff Burnstein, president of A3.  “The excitement in the hall was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. People loved being back in person and seeing all of the latest advances in robotics, machine vision, AI, motion control and more. This was the largest and best attended trade show we’ve ever had.”  

Automate, North America’s largest robotics and automation tradeshow, featured more than 24,000 registrants, 600 exhibitor booths, over 250,000 square feet of exhibit space, and two million virtual views of its digital content. Exhibitors showcased the latest innovations in robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), machine vision, motion control and smart automation, and nearly 200 expert speakers from many of the biggest names in the industry offered insights on the trends and best practices behind the emerging technology in keynotes and conference sessions. 

According to exhibitors, attendees at Automate came armed with a list of automation projects in need of solutions.

“Exhibitors told us that virtually everyone they met at the show has plans to automate, and some exhibitors reported selling robots right off the floor,” Burnstein added.

Automate 2023 Returns Next May, Exhibitor Booths Filling Fast 

Automate 2023 will be hosted in the same location, at the Huntington Place Convention Center in Detroit May 22-25. Exhibitor spots are filling fast, so interested companies should contact James Hamilton, A3’s VP of sales, here to book a booth or explore sponsorship opportunities.

Virtual Content, Including Automate LIVE, Success with 2 Million Views

A3’s virtual content for Automate—both leading up to the show and through Automate LIVE, produced in partnership with Jake Hall of The Manufacturing Millennial, Chris Luecke of the Manufacturing Happy Hour podcast, Tech B2B Marketing and other leading voices in the automation industry—has already been viewed two million times, with nearly half coming directly from A3’s own social media. In the months ahead, A3 will feature this content in addition to important presentations from Automate 2022 to continue the remarkable engagement from the automation community leading up to the 2023 show.

Visual Inspection Software Company Takes Home $10,000 Startup Prize

Highlights at Automate, which returned to Detroit after nearly two decades in Chicago, included Covision Quality taking home a $10,000 grand prize as the Cowen Startup Challenge: Automate to Outperform winner for its software that automates and scales visual inspection with unsupervised machine learning technology.

“We enjoyed our participation at Automate 2022,” said Franz Tschimben, CEO, Covision Quality.
“The show fulfilled all of our expectations and goals. We got a chance to introduce our company Covision Quality to the US market and to manufacturing companies who want to automate and scale their visual inspection systems. We connected with potential partners - system integrators and hardware manufacturers – and we got a chance to see competitive products. Winning the Cowen Startup Challenge is yet another signal that our AI -based visual inspection product is appealing to the manufacturing industry and holds strong growth potential. We will be back at Automate.”

Prestigious Engelberger Honorees Celebrated

Other awards presented at Automate 2022 include the Engelberger Foundation giving Labrador Systems  a $25,000 grant for its pioneering work on a new generation of human assistive robots. Three of the six recipients of the 2022 Engelberger Awards were honored at the Joseph F. Engelberger Awards Dinner and Ceremony: Michael P. Jacobs of Applied Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) for leadership in automation; Oussama Khatib of Stanford University for education; and Marc Raibert of Boston Dynamics for technology.  

Keynote Highlights

Keynotes such as SharkTank’s Daymond John and his 5 Shark points on the fundamentals for success in business and life; General Motor’s Douglas Stanguini on smart manufacturing excellence; and Raibert’s discussion of legged robots drew big numbers as did future work strategist, Rachelle Focardi, who talked about the future of work in the multigenerational post-Covid workplace.

A keynote, “How Artificial Intelligence is Powering the Next Wave of Manufacturing,” featured Joe Lui of Accenture, Jorge Arinez of General Motors, Irene J. Petrick of Intel, Dieter Fox of NVIDIA, and Andrew NG of Landing AI, all helping set the record straight on the current status of AI in manufacturing and where it is headed.

An executive roundtable, co-sponsored by the International Federation of Robotics, brought valuable insights on how robotics and automation are transforming the North American economy from robotics industry leaders Mike Cicco of FANUC America, Greg Smith of Teradyne (parent company of Mobile Industrial Robots, Universal Robots and AutoGuide), Greg Brown of UPS, Melonee Wise of Zebra Technologies, and Deepu Talla of NVIDIA.

About Association for Advancing Automation (A3)

The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) is the leading global advocate for the benefits of automating. A3 promotes automation technologies and ideas that transform the way business is done. Members of A3 represent over 1,100 automation manufacturers, component suppliers, system integrators, end users, academic institutions, research groups and consulting firms from throughout the world that drive automation forward.
 

A3 hosts a number of industry-leading events, including the International Robot Safety Conference (September 27-29, 2022, in Columbus, OH), the AI & Smart Automation Conference (September 29, 2022 in Columbus, OH), The Autonomous Mobile Robot & Logistics Week (October 10-13, 2022, in Boston, MA), The Vision Show (October 11-13, 2022, in Boston, MA), A3 Business Forum (January 16-18, 2023, in Orlando, FL) and Automate Show & Conference (May 22-25 2023, in Detroit, MI).