Igus has added a new AI chatbot to its online platform RBTX.com. The interactive advisor is designed to enable companies with little previous experience and technological know-how to quickly and reliably put together low-cost automation solutions to strengthen their competitiveness. Initial users are enthusiastic about the intuitive AI solution.

There are now numerous online platforms that offer the 3D printing of components. The Protiq Marketplace offers various functions - for example, manufacturing processes and materials as well as component visualization.

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The year 2024 ended on a disappointing note for the manufacturing industry in Germany. Production shrank considerably and fell to its lowest level in three months. In addition, the rate of contraction in December was the second-fastest rate in the past 14 months.

After a record year in 2023 with significant sales growth, 2024 was extremely challenging for Stöber. However, despite the tense situation on the global markets, the drive specialist believes it is prepared for the upturn with innovative solutions and its proven manpower. After all, the company supplies the right products for the growing automation and robotics sector.

ebm-papst and Hyting, a start-up for hydrogen heating systems, have announced a strategic partnership for the development and production of hydrogen-powered heat generators.

Rutronik Elektronische Bauelement, broadline distributor for electronic components, and Nisshinbo, based in Tokyo, Japan, have extended their franchise to North America. The cooperation concerns sensor and analog devices for industrial, automotive and consumer electronics.

The junior research group "Data-driven methods in control engineering" (DART) at the Heinz Nixdorf Institute at Paderborn University has spent four years researching how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used profitably in the field of control engineering.

The 43rd Motek, international trade fair for production and assembly automation, will take place together with the 18th Bondexpo, international trade fair for bonding technology, from October 7 to 9, 2025 in Stuttgart.

IFS, developer and provider of cloud business software for companies that produce and distribute goods, build and operate plants and provide services, predicts the challenges that the manufacturing industry will face in 2025 with the help of artificial intelligence.

ABB Robotics has opened a new training and exhibition center for the company's AMR product line in Madrid, Spain. It houses training facilities and exhibition space to introduce ABB's AMR technology to customers, partners and employees.

A research team from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg (HI ERN) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has developed a closed workflow that can be used to find optimal high-performance materials for perovskite solar cells (PSC) in a short time.

Sick and Endress+Hauser launch their strategic partnership for process automation. Both companies are joining forces to better support their customers and drive new technological solutions for the decarbonization of the process industry.

Scanlab, OEM manufacturer of laser scanning solutions, is expanding its management team as of January 1, 2025. Dr. Alexander Roth will take over as Spokesman of the Management Board from Georg Hofner, who will concentrate fully on his existing role as Spokesman of the Management Board of Tecinvest Holding, Scanlab's parent company, and Alexander Staudt, who is already responsible for Operations at SCANLAB, will be appointed Managing Director Operations.

Artificial intelligence is a key technology that has the potential to make production processes more efficient and overcome challenges such as cost pressure and a shortage of skilled workers. Nevertheless, companies are often reluctant to integrate AI into existing processes for fear of effort, costs or loss of control.

The 3D Pioneers Challenge (3DPC) will be celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2025. Since 2015, the competition for additive manufacturing and future-oriented technologies has offered pioneers a stage at rapid.tech 3D. Innovations have been honored that have pushed the boundaries of what is possible, inspired the industry and thus significantly advanced it.

The annual IFR report shows that the number of industrial robots is steadily increasing worldwide. They have already played an important role in ABB's portfolio for decades. In an interview with INDUSTRIAL Production, Jörg Rommelfanger, Head of ABB's Robotics division in Germany, talks about how robotics in industry will develop technologically in the near and distant future.

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In the project "2nd Life Metal Components: A Pathfinding Project for Upcycling", researchers at the Technische Universität Dresden (TUD) are developing innovative production processes for the recycling and reuse of metal components.

The agencies Web and Tech PR and Touchdown PR in Puchheim obtained statements from industry experts on the subject of cyber security.

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Hardly any automation works without the perfect interplay of hardware and software. Tool manufacturer Paul Horn initially designed and planned its systems for manufacturing precision tools, including their gripping technology, on its own. To program the robots and the PLC in the overall concept, including commissioning, Horn then brought Kuka on board for application engineering.

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Contact Software has expanded its Elements for IoT platform to include energy management functions that enable companies to transparently break down and reduce their consumption.