News

On May 25, a first Automation Expo was held after the pandemic. Automation Region's member companies demonstrated smart products and services in automation, robotics and production technology at Kungsleden's Sports Center in Västerås. Organizers for the day were Automation Region and Mälardalen University.

In the newly published book Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Management, international experts give their views on how AI affects how companies and organizations do business and innovate. Helena Blackbright, innovation researcher at Mälardalen University and project manager at Automation Region, and Stoyan Tanev, professor at Carleton University in Canada, are editors of the book.

“AI technology is now so useful that it is expected to have a major impact on the pace of innovation in many different sectors”, says Helena Blackbright. “It enables radically renewed processes for value creation, at the same time as more and more tasks can be automated and machines begin to surpass human cognitive ability.”

Together with PiiA and GTI (Green Transition Initiative), Automation Region has started the IndTech GTI Program. The purpose is to accelerate the green transition in Swedish industry in collaboration with forefront tech companies in Silicon Valley. During the autumn, a series of talks will be held with selected organizations in Sweden and the USA to identify strategies and working methods.

Automation Region, the strategic innovation program PiiA and Process IT at Luleå University of Technology have been awarded a Seal of Excellence for the work of establishing an innovation environment for IndTech. Seal of Excellence is the European Commission’s quality award for high-class applications.

It's time to apply to the Automation Student competition, which nominates the best automation related degree project of the year. The winning entry is rewarded with a scholarship of SEK 20,000. In the photo Moutoz Abdalrahman and Alistair Brice who won the 2021 edition of the competition with their degree project where they created an automatic assembly line for a pedal car.

For a period of one month, a group of students from Mälardalen University have been working on the Digital sömmerska (Digital tailor) project at the University of Borås. They have been tasked with robotising the human process of handling a fabric and sewing a simple garment.

“When it comes to costs and business benefits, it is important to implement automation if Sweden is to have a future in textile production,” says Yuliya Urban, who project manages the students’ tasks.

At Automation Region's Annual Meeting on 24 March, a progressive operational plan was established that will provide the direction of work efforts during the coming year. The starting point is a clear national commitment and focus on four prioritised areas for developing Swedish industry. New members were also elected to the Board and the meeting ended with mingling and socialising.

Robotlyftet was initiated by the Swedish Government to support automation and robotisation in small and medium-sized industrial companies. The programme started in 2019 and ended in December 2021. An independent evaluation shows that Robotlyftet has had a good effect and contributed to increasing companies' investments in automation and robotisation.

During the year, Automation Region participates in the planning and execution of two important trade fairs, Elmia Automation in the spring and Scanautomatic and ProcessTeknik in the autumn. In addition, our own conference Automation Summit is making a comeback in November with an event in four different cities.

Automation Region is currently strengthening its national focus by establishing a regional node for the Västerbotten and Norrbotten provinces based in Skellefteå. The main purpose is to connect leading industrial environments to promote Swedish competitiveness.

The person responsible for operations at the new node is Ulf Olofsson, Business Development Manager at Automation Region with considerable experience from development projects in automation and digitisation.