Automation | ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Our Members Bring Choice, Value & Innovation to Agriculture Fri, 16 Jan 2026 16:43:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.4 /wp-content/uploads/2023/09/fema-favicon-75x75.png Automation | ¹û¶³´«Ã½ 32 32 THG Automation Webinar Wed. January 14 @ 10:00 a.m. /news/thg-automation-webinar-wed-january-14-1000-a-m/ Thu, 01 Jan 2026 22:00:07 +0000 /?p=34176

Welding Choices for Automation – Which Process is Best for Your Application?

TIG, MIG, laser and more all behave differently when automated. Learn how to select the right welding process based on your parts, quality requirements, and production goals.

✨ Cost: FREE for FEMA Members | $35 for Non-Members
Members will need their FEMA member ID to register free. Contact the FEMA office at 314-878-2304 if you need assistance.

To Register go to:

]]> US Women in Manufacturing Reaches New High After Pandemic /news/us-women-in-manufacturing-reaches/ Wed, 05 Oct 2022 16:02:24 +0000 /?p=19784 Bloomberg reported that the number of US women working in manufacturing is rising again after a drop during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and more will likely join the male-dominated field thanks to a shift toward automation. Women are now returning at levels seen before 2020, after some age groups including those age 55 to 64 saw spikes last year, according to a post from the US Census Bureau.

New jobs requiring high-tech skills and efforts to encourage girls to study engineering and related subjects help chip away at the gender gap, the agency said.

Source:

]]> Manufacturing Robot Sales Rise 25% in Q2 /news/manufacturing/manufacturing-robot-sales-rise-25-in-q2/ Thu, 01 Sep 2022 19:14:03 +0000 /?p=19176 North American companies snapped up a record number of 12,305 robots worth $585 million the first half of this year as they struggled to keep factories and warehouses humming in the face of an extremely tight labor market and soaring compensation costs.

The results of the 25% year-over year increase haven’t materialized yet, given the time needed to adjust to new machinery according to research from the Association for the Advancing Automation. Combined with a strong first quarter, the North American robotics market celebrated its best first half ever, the group said. 

With nearly two open jobs for every unemployed worker, employers are bidding up wages: Total U.S. labor costs – covering wages and benefits – surged 5.1% year over year in the second quarter, the most since the Labor Department began tracking it in 2001.

Knapheide Manufacturing Co is among companies investing in new robots — including a new production line for flatbed truck bodies slated to go into its Quincy, Illinois, factory this year. The new line will use robots to feed steel parts through an automated welding process.

Mike Bovee, the engineer overseeing the installation, said the new robots should help ease a chronic shortage of welders. Knapheide currently recruits those workers from as far away as Texas.

“We’ll always need as many welders as we can find,” he said, but they can be redeployed to other parts of production at the 1,500-worker plant.

]]>