60 Seconds with… Jeff Burnstein, President of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3)

Jeff Burnstein

Association for Advancing Automation (A3)

Location: Ann Arbor, Mich.

Experience: 36 years with the association, president for 12 years.

Modern: Can you tell us about A3?

Burnstein: We think we’re the largest trade group in North America for automation companies. We have 1,200 members in robotics, machine vision and artificial intelligence, representing the integrators, suppliers and end users, as well as the consulting firms and academics. It’s the whole ecosystem of automation.

Modern: We understand more robotics exhibitors will attend ProMat than ever before, and that’s not counting Automate. What’s driving the interest in robotics today?

Burnstein: The reason we put the two events together in 2011 was that there was recognition by MHI and A3 that the use of mobile robots, vision and grasping technologies is coming together to assist distribution. As the e-commerce business is growing, there are more opportunities for these technologies. Automation is a way to improve efficiency, lower costs and become stronger competitors. In the warehousing space, I think it’s also being driven by the inability to find enough people.

Modern: In distribution, we’re seeing mobile collaborative robots and piece picking robots. Do you have a sense of how those two spaces are advancing?

Burnstein: We don’t collect market data, so I can’t say that one sector is growing faster than the other. It’s my sense that the mobile side of things is further along than the grasping side. There’s a lot of great technology on the picking side, but when you think of grasping, there are still limitations compared to what humans can do.

Modern: Tell us a little about this year’s Automate. What are you expecting?

Burnstein: This is the fifth Automate. We’re going to have close to 500 exhibitors in 160,000 net square feet. It’s at least four times larger than the very first one in 2011. I expect more than 20,000 visitors and more than 1,000 paid attendees to our conference, which has great presentations on the practical application of these technologies. We also have professional certifications in areas such as machine vision and motion control.

Modern: What will be new this year?

Burnstein: You’re going to see new players and technologies in the mobile robotics space as well as in artificial intelligence. You’re also going to see more solutions designed to make these technologies easier to use. That’s creating a market for small to mid-sized companies that are trying to figure out if automation is right for them.

Modern: As a rule, distribution has lagged manufacturing when it comes to adopting all automation. What’s happening today?

Burnstein: There have been improvements in the technologies at a time when it’s difficult to find people and when competition requires you to be as efficient as possible. Automation helps companies do that.

Modern: Any final thoughts?

Burnstein: At this year’s Automate, we’re going to put a greater emphasis than ever on workforce development. If you’re about to graduate from college with certain skills, or if you’re working in another field, we’ll help put you in touch with companies that have open jobs. And, there are a lot of jobs in automation.