Shortlisted in three categories at the Automate UK Awards – which is being held on the evening of the second day of the PPMA Show – Tekpak is renowned for solving complex packaging line challenges with its proven, modular automation solutions which are designed to integrate seamlessly with existing lines, fit constrained spaces and enable tool-less changeovers.

The centrepiece of the company’s stand this year will be the TD3/R Series – a dynamic 3-axis robotic pick-and-place cell suitable for loading or stacking products into trays, cases, cartons, a thermoformer or a flow-wrapper infeed.

This compact automated system is flexible, offers rapid size change capability and features a quick-change gripper for multiple formats. Ideal in cleanroom environments or where space is limited, it’s also highly accurate thanks to robot positional accuracy of ±0.1mm and position tracking using vision control. In addition, the system is easy to use thanks to accessible touch-screen displays and boasts gentle handling and optimal safety functions.

“The PPMA Show is the highlight of the UK’s processing and packaging calendar, showcasing the innovative and creative technologies on the market right now to help manufacturers address key challenges such as rising energy costs and staff shortages,” says Ian Marks, Tekpak Automation’s Head of UK Sales.

“At Tekpak, we strive to support customers in reducing their operational costs while improving their OEE with our range of reliable, modular automation solutions. We can’t wait to demonstrate this to visitors to our stand, where they can see a live example of one of our most popular pick-and-place cells in action.”

In further evidence of Tekpak’s excellence in automation, the company has been shortlisted in three separate categories at the Automate UK Awards 2026. Taking place at The Vox, Birmingham on night two of the PPMA Show (23 Sept), Tekpak will compete to be named the best of the best in the following areas thanks to an impressive pick-and-place cell they recently installed for a manufacturer of transdermal patches: Innovative Packaging Machinery; Innovative Robotics/Automation Solution; and Innovative Vision Solution.

“To be nominated in not just one but three categories against such an impressive line-up of OEMs is an honour in itself,” states Ian. “We are very much looking forward to celebrating the best of British automation technology at this year’s Automate UK Awards.”

The solution expands the working area by adding a movable 7th axis and enables a cobot to be used at multiple stations within a single system. This allows production processes to be structured more flexibly and robot systems to be utilised more efficiently.

The MovoTrak CTU is robustly built and designed for a wide range of applications. It is based on two linear units that ensure maximum torque load and rigidity even when the robot arm is fully extended. Building on these linear units, Rodriguez supplies a complete system including motors, gearboxes, and application-specific configuration.

Designed for those curious about how robots think, move and solve problems this interactive discovery day is perfect for beginners and will introduce them to the fundamentals of robotics and programming in a fun, supportive and practical environment. Students will explore how robots are designed, built and programmed to address real-world challenges, providing attendees with an introduction to robotics and programming, while developing their practical engineering and problem-solving skills.

Run on the same principles of NMITE’s pedagogy of hands-on learning, and led by Professor Alexandru Stancu, Professor of Engineering: Drones & Autonomous Vehicles, attendees will be able to experience some of what makes NMITE special, which has enabled it to become a sought-after university in just five years since it opened for students in 2021.

Professor Stancu said “I and my other engineering colleagues can’t wait to share some of our knowledge and expertise at this first-ever robotics discovery day. You’ll get hands on experience working with robotics hardware and code and by the end of the day you will have developed your confidence by taking your first steps into robotics, engineering and solving real-world challenges. who knows, it may turn out to be the first step in journey to becoming a robot engineer.”

In the morning session, attendees will learn all about building a robot including how to assemble a working robot from its component parts.  Attendees will explore the key elements of robotics, including sensors, motors and controllers and will understand how hardware works together to create an autonomous robot.

The afternoon session will focus on coding and navigation during which the basics of coding for robotics will be explained and then there is the opportunity to programme a robot to complete simple navigation challenges, testing, troubleshooting and improving the robot’s performance.

No previous coding or robotics experience required. Just bring your curiosity. Spaces are limited – so book early to avoid disappointment.

LG Motion (Stand 46) will be showcasing Techman Robot (TM Robot) collaborative robots at MachineBuilding.South with a number of demos, along with electro-mechanical motion control systems. LG Motion managing director Gary Livingstone has also authored a book: Lean Robotic Automation provides a clear and practical framework for implementing robotics successfully, combining proven Lean principles with real-world automation experience.

“Robots can deliver incredible results, but only when they’re applied in the right way,” said Gary. “This book is about taking a structured, Lean approach to robotic automation so projects are simpler, outcomes are clearer, and businesses get real value from their investment.”

For its part, OMRON (Stand 70) has expanded its TM S Series collaborative robot portfolio with three new models and a major software update, supporting manufacturers facing labour shortages and increasing requirements for flexible, high-mix production. The TM30S, TM20S and TM6S extend the series’ payload and reach capabilities for applications such as palletising, machine tending and precision handling.

Across the S Series, OMRON has introduced upgrades to increase durability and support faster redeployment. All robot arms now feature an IP65 rating for use in washdown or dust-prone environments. Higher-payload units (TM25S, TM30S) incorporate an integrated joint 6 force-torque wrist sensor for improved force-controlled processes. The updated Landmark 2.0 vision-based positioning system is designed to reduce recalibration time when moving robots between stations.

OMRON has also released TMflow 2.22, an update to its no-code programming environment. The new version introduces more granular safety configuration options, expanded remote monitoring and diagnostics, and a higher-fidelity simulation engine. Integrated vision tools have been strengthened to support inspection and pick-and-place tasks with greater accuracy.

With the TM30S, TM20S, and TM6S alongside crucial upgrades like IP65 certification and the integrated joint 6 force torque sensor, OMRON says it is empowering customers to automate their most challenging, heavy-duty tasks with greater safety, precision, and flexibility than ever before. TMflow 2.22 ensures that this immense power remains easy to program and manage, upholding OMRON’s commitment to harmonious automation.

JAKA Robotics (Stand 78) is emphasising the wide range of applications for collaborative robots, including picking, packing, machine tending, and quality inspection. Their flexibility allows businesses to deploy them across different roles and processes, making them incredibly versatile tools that can enhance productivity in multiple aspects of production.

JAKA continues to advance the conversation around collaborative robotics, arguing that, with proven adaptability, safety measures and intelligence, cobots are crucial allies for any business looking to enhance productivity and workforce safety, no matter the size of operations.

Delta robots

Following its new partnership with Englert Robotics, HMK (Stand 41) is excited to be overviewing delta robot technology on the stand – perfect for high-performance handling applications. Englert’s modular platform offers exceptional flexibility, with a wide range of sizes, payloads, and configurable options, including different material combinations to suit hygiene-critical, high-speed or harsh environments. This flexibility makes the robots ideal for applications across packaging, food, pharma, electronics, logistics and recycling.

A key advantage is the open, standards‑based approach to control integration, supporting Siemens, KEBA and other leading control platforms. This gives OEMs full freedom to align with their existing architectures while avoiding vendor lock‑in.

As the UK partner for Englert Robotics, HMK offers OEMs multiple delivery options – from mechanical‑only Delta robot systems, through mechanics supplied with motors and drives, to fully engineered and integrated mechatronic solutions. By combining Englert’s advanced mechanical design with HMK’s control, motion and systems expertise, HMK provides flexible, high‑performance and cost‑optimised robotic solutions tailored to each requirement.

A key requirement for robotics applications is some sort of end-of-arm gripper, and PIAB (Stand 83) offers a huge range of suction cups, including the recently introduced BCP40 is a suction cup dedicated to automated handling of corrugated cardboard boxes in packaging and intralogistics. BCP40 combines long stroke, high stability and sustainable materials in a cost‑efficient design optimized for high‑throughput box handling.

Another innovative product in the PIAB range is new 3-finger piSOFTGRIP 40-3, developed for the food and chocolate industry. Based on the proven piSOFTGRIP 30-3, the new model increases gripping capacity up to 40 mm while keeping the same concept and ease of use.

The vacuum-based soft gripper safely handles sensitive, lightweight products with irregular shapes or surfaces. Its one-piece, sealed design with three gripping fingers is robust, dust-insensitive, and allows easy adjustment of gripping force via the vacuum level – ensuring gentle and reliable handling across a wider range of applications.

As robot systems become more advanced and connected, ensuring functional safety and compliance is becoming increasingly complex. With the release of ISO 10218:2025, organisations must understand what’s changed and how to apply it in practice.

The webinar will cover: key updates introduced in ISO 10218:2025; how to select and apply effective safeguarding measures; designing and validating functional safety systems; and reducing risk and achieving compliance in real-world applications.

The webinar will be presented by Hefin Llewellyn-Evans, Technical Trainer (Functional Safety), TUV SUD. With hands-on experience delivering safety-critical projects in manufacturing environments, Hefin brings practical insight into applying functional safety in modern robotics.

If you can’t join live, register anyway, and you’ll be sent the webinar recording so you won’t miss any of the valuable insights.

This is a finding of the 2026 automatica Trend Index. The survey was commissioned by automatica and a total of 100 German specialists and executives responsible for taking decisions on the adoption of robotics and automation in their respective companies participated.

“China has been consistently pursuing a national robotics strategy for years to systematically capitalize on the opportunities offered by modern automation”, says Patrick Schwarzkopf, Managing Director of the VDMA Robotics + Automation Association. “Beijing’s latest five-year plan places smart robotics at the very center of its development goals. Thus, they are ushering in a new era of humanoid robots with the goal of developing an embodied intelligence integrating AI software with physical robotics. Plans are in place for entirely new practical AI applications promoting industrial and commercial automation.”

Robotics and automation crucial for competitiveness

Smart robotics is considered a pivotal field of innovation in Germany, too: 78 percent of respondents believe that AI and robotics deployment is indispensable for keeping the German industry competitive. The automatica Trend Index also found that humanoid robots already play an important role in industrial production (85 %) – even though 68 percent of the respondents still primarily operate pilot projects without large-scale adoption.

Exhibition Director Anja Schneider comments: “Humanoid robotics is a particularly striking example of physical AI as it presents AI in human-like form as it interacts with the physical world. We can already say that physical AI and humanoid robotics will be the key topics at automatica 2027.”

A solid foundation: Germany in the top 3

Humanoid platforms are illustrative of future automation use cases requiring the combined expertise of various disciplines. In this framework, traditional mechanical engineering know-how joins forces with modern systems technology, sensor technology, and AI-based software development.

The so-called physical AI deployed here requires realistic and properly processed production data acquired by sensors. Germany is in a great position to adopt this technology due to its advanced production facilities. With 449 installed industrial robots per 10,000 employees, Germany has one of the greatest robot densities in the world and, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), takes third place right behind South Korea and Singapore.

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Designed to give attendees a clear understanding of how automation can be successfully implemented in food and beverage and FMCG environments, the session combined expert insight with live demonstrations and real-world application examples.

Throughout the morning, visitors had the opportunity to explore how cobots can help tackle ongoing industry challenges such as labour shortages, the need for improved consistency, and increasing pressure to deliver strong return on investment.

A key focus of the day was showcasing practical applications, with live demonstrations covering processes such as palletising, packaging, pick and place, and material handling. These demonstrations helped illustrate how flexible automation solutions can be deployed across a range of end of line tasks to improve productivity, quality, and ergonomics on the factory floor.

The event was specifically aimed at end users, providing a valuable opportunity to meet with experts from across the automation supply chain in one location. Attendees were able to speak directly with specialists in grippers, vision systems, robotics and integration, enabling them to gain tailored advice and discuss their individual production challenges in detail.

Integral to the success of the day was the support of four integration partners: Olympus Technologies (Adam Swallow), Protec (Alex Neal), Robotics and Automation (Mike Sharpe), and Jention (Russell Scion).

Each partner showcased a range of cobot-driven applications relevant to the food industry, demonstrating how collaborative robotics can be effectively applied to both packing and processing operations. These hands-on examples helped bring automation concepts to life, allowing visitors to see first-hand how solutions could be implemented in their own facilities.

The Masterclass also created a collaborative environment for networking and knowledge exchange, with attendees ranging from production managers and engineers to business leaders exploring automation strategies.

Overall, the event delivered on its aim to provide practical, actionable insight into food and beverage automation. Attendees left with a stronger understanding of where cobots can add value within their operations, as well as clear next steps for beginning or expanding their automation journey.

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The award ceremony will be held during the HANNOVER MESSE Preview on 24 February 2027 in Hannover. The deadline to apply is 1 November 2026.

Each year, HANNOVER MESSE organises the ROBOTICS AWARD to recognise outstanding technological innovations that have the potential to transform manufacturing. An independent jury evaluates the submissions and nominates three solutions. The focus is on market-ready products with a high degree of innovation, clear industrial potential, and convincing economic viability.

Companies and institutions from Germany and abroad are eligible to participate in the competition, regardless of whether they exhibit at HANNOVER MESSE.

During the awards ceremony, the three nominees present their solutions to members of the media from roughly 20 countries. The winner is then announced. All nominees receive a participation package for HANNOVER MESSE, which includes exhibition space in the Application Park and a presentation slot. Interested companies can submit their application here.

The startup GoodBytz won the Robotics Award 2026 for its kitchen system that uses lightweight, compact industrial robots. Appropriate seals, food-grade materials, and a high level of protection against heat, moisture and cleaning processes enable its robots to meet the requirements of food processing.

In this session, you will learn: what is changing under the Machinery Regulation; the role of Common Specifications, Market Surveillance, and Conformity Assessments; and how organisations can start preparing for the new requirements

Hosted on Zoom, this 30-minute session is led by safety experts and includes a live Q&A, with a recording available afterwards.

Click here to sign up for the webinar.

Cyan Tec, Cyber-Weld and Expert Technologies will join FANUC on stand F40 at the NEC on 3-4 June for the UK’s most comprehensive gathering of manufacturing and engineering technology, services and solutions. Visitors to the FANUC stand can enjoy automation demonstrations featuring collaborative augmented reality welding, advanced sensing and vision systems, transfer and handling solutions, and a modular automation platform dubbed ‘a factory in a box’.

Live robotic technology showcase

Renowned for designing and building complex, precision engineered systems for demanding production environments, Cyan Tec works across a range of sectors including advanced manufacturing, aerospace, automotive, defence and medical devices. At this year’s show, its live ‘Technology Showcase’ demo cell on the FANUC stand will prove in real time how best in class automation building blocks can be seamlessly integrated into a single, compact and highly capable system.

Bringing together a selection of technologies that commonly feature across many of Cyan Tec’s real world applications, the demo cell features robotic automation from FANUC alongside advanced sensing and vision systems, transfer and handling solutions, high speed drives, gripper technologies, industrial communication protocols, air gapped security concepts, and high end PLC and HMI interfaces.

Augmented reality welding

Specialising in bespoke robotic welding systems, Cyber-Weld’s solutions help UK manufacturers increase production efficiency and remain competitive on the global stage. The FANUC system integrator partner will showcase its flagship Soldamatic Augmented Reality Welding cell – featuring a FANUC CRX10-iA collaborative robot – which aims to strengthen manufacturers’ welding capabilities.

Offering multiple virtual welding environments that replicate real world scenarios, Soldamatic enables the rapid upskilling of employees by significantly accelerating learning for practical applications. Visitors to the FANUC stand can see for themselves how combining immersive augmented reality with collaborative robotics enables faster skills development while reducing material wastage and consumable costs throughout the training process – all within a safe, flexible and future ready welding environment.

Scalable manufacturing with ‘factory in a box’

Also on stand F40 will be Expert Technologies, another longstanding FANUC system integrator partner. Delivering advanced automation and robotic solutions, its systems are designed to optimise processes, improve productivity and ensure quality at every stage of production. Live on the stand will be Flexcell, a modular automation platform from Expert Technologies dubbed a factory in a box, that scales seamlessly from early-stage prototyping through to full production – without requiring costly redesigns or rebuilds. Highly versatile, it can be deployed across virtually any operational use case, from manufacturing and assembly to inspection, testing, and material handling, with its phased approach reducing waste and time-to-value by up to 20%.

Cost-effective robot integration

“FANUC’s integrator network brings together industry expertise from a wide range of sectors, with each valued partner providing tailored automation solutions,” says Oliver Selby, FANUC UK’s Head of Sales. “We’re proud to be able to showcase the solutions of three of these partners at Smart Factory Expo, demonstrating live on our stand how they successfully integrate FANUC robots to drive cost efficiency, optimise production and deliver real value to UK manufacturers.”

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