A technology revolution has hit the plant. The Pacific Design and Manufacturing show in Anaheim, Calif. Next week will a plethora of actionable example of smart manufacturing and robotics. “Pacific Design and Manufacturing is ideal for live onsite demonstrations of new robotics and automation technology,” Suzanne Deffree, brand director of Pacific Design & Manufacturing told Design News.

Deffree noted that many of the leading robotics companies such as Epson Robots, ATS Automation, Universal Robots, and more will be showcasing their advancements in robotic technology. Attendees can expect to see the latest in motion control, motors, drives, sensors, and much more.

Here a sampling of the sessions the detail the disrupted plant:

Factory Reboot — Introducing New Technology & Blood into Your Operation

9:45 to 10:30 Tuesday, Feb. 11

Baby Boomers are retiring and taking with them the inherent knowledge that manufacturers find they cannot easily replace with Millennials. As robots become smaller, more autonomous, and able to automate a wider range of manufacturing tasks, these jobs are in need of a refresh.

This panel will dig deep into the new technology and give attendees greater insight into better practices to guarantee success while discussing the lessons learned through industry examples. Topics covered include:

The presenters will be Will Healy III, industry marketing director at Balluff; Kristian Hulgard, GM of Americas at OnRobot; and Stefan Nusser, VP of product at Fetch Robotics.

The Smart Factory: You Have All the Data, What Do You Do With it?

1:15 to 2:00 pm Tuesday, Feb. 11

You've invested in the smart factory, employing technology such as AI, robotics, and the IoT. Now that you have all data, what do you do with it? This session will discuss the possibilities of how to leverage this big data to fully understand the manufacturing process as well as how to determine which initiatives to tackle first: Topics covered include:

The presenters will be John Danese, industry director at Life Sciences at Birlasoft and Tej Sarup, global practice head of AI and big data at Birlasoft.

Is Generation Z Ready for Plant Floor Technology?

3:15 to 4:00 pm Tuesday, Feb. 11

Leading2Lean's Manufacturing Index reveals that Generation Z — those born from the mid-90s to the early 2000s— is interested in manufacturing, but the industry needs to find new approaches to interest and engage this a age group – a generation that is a perfect fit for the modern digitized manufacturing plant floor. Topics covered include:

The presenter will be Keith Barr, president and CEO at Leading2Lean.

DIY Robot Operating Systems for Manufacturing Production Lines

4:05 – 5:00 pm Tuesday, Feb. 11

The Robot Operating System was developed to be a distributed and modular open-source platform for robotics software development — lowering the barrier to entry for engineers, researchers, makers, and educators to develop robotics applications. Join this interactive session to learn the latest thinking and industry uses with ROS and see demonstrations on how to get started using ROS. Topics in this session also include:

The presenter will be Michael Anderson, director of technology at The PTR Group.

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Rob Spiegel has covered automation and control for 19 years, 17 of them for Design News. Other topics he has covered include supply chain technology, alternative energy, and cyber security. For 10 years, he was owner and publisher of the food magazine Chile Pepper.