Record Automate 2023 Event Leads to Annual Show

Automate, the largest robotics and automation trade show in North America, celebrated its most successful event to date with record numbers. More than 30,000 people from around the world registered to visit the sold-out show floor which featured 757 exhibitors during Automate’s four-day run May 22-25, 2023, in Detroit, Michigan.

Due to the demand for automation and the growing need companies have — both to learn how automation can benefit them as well as connect with partners who can help them deploy automation solutions — the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) will now hold Automate annually.

“I want to take a moment to thank all the sponsors, speakers, exhibitors and attendees who contributed to making Automate 2023 such a tremendous success,” says Jeff Burnstein, A3 president. “As this show demonstrated, demand for robotics and automation technologies is accelerating as companies in every industry seek automation solutions to improve their competitiveness.”

Previously held every other year, the show featured four halls of exhibits, keynote speakers each day, relevant show floor theater sessions, a startup competition and a comprehensive educational conference attended by more than 1,000 people with courses on topics such as robotics, artificial intelligence, machine vision and motion control taught by more than 200 industry experts.

“We found tremendous value exhibiting at Automate,” says Kevin Barker, president of Beckhoff Automation. “The audience was knowledgeable, engaged and excited about automation technology and we look forward to continuing to participate every year moving forward.”

On the second day of Automate, nine technology startups went head-to-head to win the Phoenix Contact Startup Challenge.

ESTAT Actuation was selected by a panel of venture capital judges for its game-changing technologies and received a $10,000 cash prize. It is said ESTAT electroadhesive products are 10 times lighter, 10 times more compact and 1,000 times more efficient than conventional versions, enabling groundbreaking new solutions for robotic joints, end-of-arm tooling gripping and untethered robot designs.

“Automate was incredible for generating customer interest and connections. Everyone loved seeing and experiencing our hardware demos, and winning the startup challenge gave us a great avenue to build awareness of our products and gain industry advocates,” says Stuart Diller, ESTAT Actuation CEO.

Recipients of the 2023 Engelberger Awards were celebrated at the Joseph F. Engelberger Awards Dinner and Ceremony. Roberta Nelson Shea of Universal Robots was recognized as the Application winner for her work in global robotics safety; and Jeff Burnstein of the Association for Advancing Automation was honored in Leadership for his work promoting the robotics industry for the past four decades at the Association for Advancing Automation.

For anyone unable to attend the event live or who missed keynote speeches and discussions, there’s still a chance to check them out on Automate Rewind. It features an entire digital library of content from Automate 2023, including recordings of keynote sessions, theater talks, Automate Live interviews, exhibitor spotlights and more.

Save the dates for Automate 2024, which is scheduled for May 6-9 at McCormick Place in Chicago; and Automate 2025 which returns to Detroit May 12-15, 2025.The 2024 booth space is already more than 60% reserved. If your company would like to reserve space, contact Jim Hamilton, A3’s VP of Sales, to book a booth or explore sponsorship opportunities.