For years, industrial automation followed a relatively stable formula: high-volume production, long product lifecycles, and robotic systems designed to repeat the same process millions of times with minimal variation.
That model helped transform industries such as automotive manufacturing, where fixed production lines and highly specialized robots delivered extraordinary efficiency at scale.
But manufacturing is changing. Product cycles are shorter, customization is increasing, and factories are under pressure to adapt more quickly to shifting demand and supply chain volatility. In many facilities, the traditional economics of automation no longer work as neatly as they once did. [Read more…] about Interview with Intrinsic’s Stefan Nusser: Traditional automation is ‘too expensive and too inflexible’