A couple of weeks ago, the Direct Recruiters Automation, Robotics and Controls team attended IMTS 2018 at McCormick Place in Chicago. Josh Olgin, Director of Robotics and Nick Saddleton, Automation, Robotics and Controls Executive Recruiter were two attendees out of the 129,415 registrations and 2,563 exhibiting companies. They, along with other attendees were provided access to networking opportunities, informative sessions, and impressive new technologies in the world of Manufacturing. Josh and Nick shared their three takeaways from the show:

There is an appetite for hiring in the industry.

With the overwhelming turn out and mass amount of people, manufacturing companies and professionals are looking for top-talent to join them. The DRI team was able to meet up with several professionals to discuss the industry and talent needs they have. With the need being so high, DRI has the ability to narrow down the focus of what the company is looking for to specifics and find right person. Sales, applications, robot programmers, robot engineers, mechanical design engineers, concepting, project management, and field service were just some of the talent categories discussed while we were there.

Robotics is a huge driver in industry trends.

The DRI team was so impressed with the robots, new technology and new applications they saw at the show. The exhibitors represented the ongoing growth in technology in the industry. Josh and Nick saw technologies such as sensor controls, machine tools, robots working hand in hand with CNC machinery, mobile robots, and even a bartending robot!

Cobots and Mobile Robots working together with humans

A noticeable trend in the industry and displayed at IMTS has been humans working together with different types of robots. Mobile robots small enough for warehouses or hospitals for example can come and go with no supervision, being programmed at the beginning of the day (by a human) and it does its job. Humans are able to manage how these robots work, resulting in an increase in productivity. Not only can cobots contribute to efficiency and growth, but also safety. They are able to work in harsh surroundings, so a human doesn’t get hurt. We are seeing more and more of this collaboration between humans and robots – something we expect to continue in driving growth in the industry.

As executive search specialists in the Automation, Robotics and Controls space, DRI enjoyed IMTS, the great new technologies, interesting companies, and the people they met there. If you happened to attend IMTS and did not get a chance to meet with Josh or Nick – let us know what you thought! Additionally, Josh will be attending Pack Expo on October 15^th and 16^th - Please reach out to him to set up a meeting if you’re attending as well.

Josh Olgin
Director of Robotics
440-996-0585
jolgin@directrecruiters.com

Nick Saddleton
Executive Recruiter
440-971-1193
nsaddleton@directrecruiters.com