Servo drives, motors and PLCs from Inovance have enabled packaging machinery OEM Spiraltech to automate a machine capable of cutting cardboard cores from 60 mm up to 1,250 mm in diameter.

This year's Eplan Next26 marks the premiere of a completely new event format: a global festival for visionaries, decision-makers and users from various industries and engineering.

IMI's Industrial Automation sector has opened a new technical engineering centre at its Lichfield site, reinforcing its commitment to supporting customers with enhanced engineering expertise, faster project delivery and deeper collaboration.

Automation and robotics distributor RARUK Automation has signed an exclusive UK distribution agreement with Trener Robotics (formerly T-Robotics). Headquartered in San Jose, California, and Trondheim, Norway, Trener Robotics offers an AI platform - Acteris - designed to bring artificial intelligence to manufacturing robots.

Over 250 manufacturing leaders have now been equipped to lead digital transformation through Made Smarter North West's flagship skills programmes.

WISKA UK will be exhibiting at all Machine Building Lives in 2026, presenting a range of robust and precision-engineered cable management solutions designed to support modern machine builders and system integrators.

SPIROL is proud to announce that it has received the 2025 Supplier Excellence Recognition Award from Caterpillar Inc. This prestigious award recognises suppliers who demonstrate world-class performance and a sustained commitment to quality, delivery, and operational excellence.

Universal Robots (UR) unveiled the UR AI Trainer at GTC 2026 in Silicon Valley. Developed in collaboration with Scale AI, the AI Trainer marks a tectonic shift as robots move from pre-programmed applications to fully AI-driven tasks. These systems are powered by robust data generated in AI training cells where robots imitate humans. 

Diary date: Concorde Conference Centre, Manchester - Wednesday, 13 May 2026. MachineBuilding.North 2026 is designed to give engineers and manufacturing professionals a clear, structured and highly productive day focused on machine building and industrial automation.