Upcoming Editions
Preview forthcoming editions, their editorial focus and scheduled publication dates.
Machines That Work Together: The New Era of Robotics and Factory Automation
Factory automation is moving beyond isolated machines performing repetitive operations. Industrial robots, collaborative robots, autonomous mobile systems, machine vision and automated material handling are increasingly being connected into flexible production environments. This edition examines the changing role of robotics and automation across the factory floor, exploring how machines can coordinate tasks, work alongside people and respond to changing production requirements while improving consistency, productivity and operational control.
The Factory in 2026: Technologies That Changed the Way Things Are Made
Manufacturing technology continued to advance throughout 2026 as factories adopted more connected machinery, automation, robotics, intelligent software and energy management systems. Artificial intelligence also began finding practical applications across inspection, maintenance and production analysis. This edition brings together the technological developments that influenced factory operations during the year, examining how machinery, software, data and people increasingly worked as parts of a connected production environment rather than as separate elements.
The Factory Future 2027: Building the Next Generation of Production
Factories enter 2027 with automation, connectivity and intelligent software becoming increasingly integrated into everyday production. Machines can generate operational information, robots can perform more varied tasks and digital systems can provide greater visibility across the shop floor. This edition examines the technologies shaping the next generation of factories, from production machinery and industrial networks to artificial intelligence and robotics, while exploring how manufacturers can combine these capabilities into reliable, flexible and productive operating environments.
The Intelligent Production Line: When Machines, Software and Data Work as One
Modern production lines increasingly depend on communication between machinery and the digital systems surrounding it. PLCs control equipment, sensors observe processes, SCADA systems provide supervision and manufacturing software connects production activity with wider operational requirements. This edition examines the technology architecture behind an intelligent production line and explores how machines, software and data can work together to provide greater visibility, consistency and responsiveness while helping operators understand what is happening across production in real time.
AI Enters the Factory: From Machine Vision to Intelligent Production Decisions
Artificial intelligence is beginning to find practical roles across the production floor. Machine vision can support automated inspection, analytical systems can identify unusual operating conditions and intelligent software can assist with scheduling, process optimisation and maintenance. This edition examines where AI can create useful capabilities inside factories and how it works alongside existing automation and industrial systems. It also considers the importance of reliable data, engineering knowledge and human oversight when intelligent systems influence real production processes.
The Flexible Factory: Manufacturing More Products With Faster Changeovers and Smarter Systems
Factories increasingly need to manufacture greater product variety while responding quickly to changing volumes and customer requirements. Flexible automation, modular production equipment, programmable systems and faster changeovers can help production lines adapt without sacrificing efficiency. This edition examines the technologies and engineering approaches behind flexible manufacturing, exploring how factories can move beyond rigid production configurations and create systems capable of handling smaller batches, product variations and changing schedules with greater speed and control.
Zero Defect Ambition: How Technology Is Transforming Quality on the Factory Floor
Quality control is moving closer to the production process as sensors, machine vision, automated inspection and digital traceability make it possible to identify variation earlier. Metrology systems can measure components precisely while production data can reveal patterns that traditional inspection may overlook. This edition examines the technologies supporting modern factory quality and explores how manufacturers can shift from finding defects after production toward controlling processes continuously, improving consistency and understanding the conditions that influence product quality.
The Factory That Predicts Failure: Reinventing Maintenance Before Machines Stop
Unexpected equipment failure can interrupt production, affect quality and create expensive operational disruption. Sensors and monitoring systems increasingly allow factories to observe vibration, temperature, electrical behaviour and other indicators of machine condition before obvious failure occurs. This edition examines the evolution from reactive and scheduled maintenance toward condition-based and predictive approaches. It explores how machine data, diagnostics and maintenance software can help factories understand equipment health and plan intervention before developing problems become production stoppages.
The Digital Twin Factory: Building a Virtual Mirror of Physical Production
Digital twins allow manufacturers to represent physical equipment, production processes or complete factory systems within a digital environment. Combined with simulation and operational data, these virtual models can support design decisions, process improvement, commissioning and ongoing optimisation. This edition examines how digital twins are being applied across manufacturing and explains their relationship with simulation, virtual commissioning and connected factory data. It explores how a useful virtual representation can help manufacturers understand changes before applying them to physical production.
Powering Production: Building a More Energy-Efficient Factory
Energy is a fundamental production input, powering machinery, motors, compressed air, heating, cooling and countless supporting systems across a factory. Improving energy efficiency therefore requires visibility into where and how power is consumed. This edition examines the technologies and engineering approaches that can reduce factory energy intensity, including efficient motors and drives, energy monitoring, heat recovery, compressed-air optimisation and renewable integration. It explores how better energy management can support both operating efficiency and more sustainable production.
The Connected Shop Floor: How Industrial IoT Is Linking Machines, People and Processes
Industrial connectivity is allowing machines, sensors and production systems to exchange information across the factory floor. Industrial IoT technologies, edge computing and modern networks can make equipment status, process conditions and production activity increasingly visible in real time. This edition examines the architecture of the connected shop floor, from sensors and industrial communication to edge systems and software platforms. It explores how connectivity can improve operational awareness while highlighting the importance of reliability, interoperability and industrial cybersecurity.
The Human-Machine Factory: Redefining the Role of People in Automated Production
Automation changes the role of people inside factories rather than simply removing them from production. Collaborative robots can work near operators, digital instructions can provide contextual guidance and automated systems can take over repetitive or physically demanding tasks. This edition examines the evolving relationship between workers and machines across the factory floor. It explores cobots, operator assistance, ergonomics, skills and human-machine interfaces while considering how technology can augment human capability and create safer, more effective production environments.
The Self-Optimising Factory: When Production Systems Learn, Adapt and Improve
The next stage of factory intelligence could move production systems from simply reporting conditions toward responding to them. Advanced controls, artificial intelligence and connected production data can help systems identify variation, adjust parameters and improve schedules within defined operating boundaries. This edition examines the idea of the self-optimising factory and the technologies that could support increasingly adaptive production. It explores closed-loop control, intelligent scheduling and process optimisation while considering the safeguards required when systems begin making operational adjustments themselves.
The Factory of the Next Decade: How Production Will Evolve Beyond Automation
The factory of the next decade will be shaped by more than increasing levels of automation. Robotics, artificial intelligence, digital twins, connected machinery and energy technologies are beginning to influence how production systems are designed and operated together. This edition brings those developments into one view of the future factory, examining how increasingly intelligent and adaptable production could evolve beyond 2027. It considers the continuing role of people, engineering and operational discipline as factories become more connected, capable and autonomous.