Process Technology
Siemens says a $300,000 machine typically waits about two months before cutting a part. At IMTS 2026 it presented "Meet at the Machine", which delivers a digital copy of the machine the day after purchase so programming and setup can start early.
Ask your machine-tool vendor for a digital twin at order time, not at install. Commissioning lead time is capacity you already paid for.
Edge Computing & Inference
At IMTS 2026, TDK SensEI showed edgeRX, which collects vibration and temperature data from motors, pumps and gearboxes, learns a baseline of normal behaviour on the device and flags deviations locally, with no cloud round-trip.
On-sensor baselining suits rotating assets with weak or no connectivity. Check what alert data leaves the device and how it reaches your CMMS.
Robotics & Cobots
Universal Robots released its seventh-generation platform at IMTS: three new arms, a rebuilt core controller and a new AI-ready tool flange, with more computing power and sensing aimed at simpler deployment of advanced applications.
A rebuilt controller means a new software baseline. Existing UR cells should check URCap and program compatibility before mixing generations.
Automation & Controls
Emerson will supply an integrated control and safety system for what it describes as Europe's first greenfield sustainable aviation fuel facility. Emerson says the integration reduces project risk and supports safe, efficient operation.
Greenfield process plants are standardising on one vendor for control and safety. Weigh lower integration risk against deeper lock-in.
IIoT & Connected Manufacturing
Teltonika introduced Oxa, its first embedded industrial IoT gateway for OEMs: a caseless board with a 1.3 GHz ARM Cortex-A7, 128 MB DDR2 and 512 MB SPI flash. It lets builders add cellular connectivity without designing a custom module or modifying an enclosed gateway.
Expect more machines to arrive with cellular built in. Decide now who owns that data path, because it bypasses your plant network.
Smart Manufacturing & Digital Twin
For years, manufacturers disconnected drives of production data when SCADA databases filled up. Tiger Data's Doug Pagnutti, a former automation engineer, argues that full-resolution sensor readings and process histories are exactly what AI training and real-time inference now need.
Before you fund a model, fund retention. Stop down-sampling and purging historian data you may want to train on in two years.
IIoT & Connected Manufacturing
A Control System Integrators Association piece in Automation World argues MES/MOM delivers value by turning machine data into trusted operational context for decisions, not by collecting more of it.
Scope an MES project by the decisions it must support, then work back to the signals. Adding tags without context adds cost, not insight.
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