3-4 June, MEPCA joined 13,500 professionals across the manufacturing and engineering sectors at NEC, Birmingham for Smart Manufacturing Week 2026, a show that celebrates the industry’s present while paving the way for its future.
This year’s Smart Manufacturing Week built on the success of previous years, with a more varied conference programme, a breathtaking array of exhibitors and technological demonstrations, and even more opportunities to network.
On top of this, the roving mariachi band, all-day DJ, mirror-clad performers and a variety of food vans gave the show a festival vibe.
The spectacle of Accu Fight Fest proved popular amongst attendees (MEPCA included) and it appeared to draw large crowds both days. It was possibly one of the most dramatic exhibitions ever attempted at a trade show. For all its novelty, there was more to Accu Fight Fest than simple fun – or nostalgia for long running British television series, Robot Wars – as it demonstrated real-world engineering capabilities.
We watched from the safety of Xometry’s stand as Torx, its sponsored robot, rendered its opponent immobile in the ring. Based on that demonstration, it was no surprise to later learn that Torx went on to win Fight Fest, notching up an impressive eight wins.
Xometry did more than simply sponsor the robot; they armed it with a CNC-machined beater bar, produced using Xometry’s on-demand manufacturing network. The bar, which was machined to production-grade standards, was constructed from high-strength, chromium-molybdenum alloy and hardened to 40–45 HRC. The result was a robot-stopper that gave Torx the edge.
At Online Cleaning Technologies’ stand, we experienced the latest drone technology for industrial cleaning. Alex M., Drone Services Engineer, showed us the Elios 3 drone, which is designed to access dangerous or hard-to-reach places for cleaning and maintenance in the Power & Energy sector. Using LIDAR, Elios 3 can build precise 3D models to help maintenance teams identify defects. Video footage showed the drone navigating a seemingly unending and claustrophobic chimney stack. The impact of the technology hits home when you consider the alternative: sending a human maintenance operative.
An intelligent system of outcome
Our editor had the privilege of speaking with Chris Lloyd, Chief Solutions & Technology Officer at Syspro, shortly before he was due to speak on The AI and Industrial Data Theatre Stage, to discuss Manufacturing’s Intelligent Era.
“Manufacturing has been a tough battleground for intelligence to break into because it is such a connected ecosystem of multiple variables,” Chris said, before explaining that without operational context, AI can only provide insights or point solutions, but it isn’t able to provide decisions or meaningful outcomes.
To get industrial AI working in a way that will deliver this intelligence, Chris insisted that there are three things have to be true at the same time. Firstly, a system with a “full operational understanding” of the business, from lot traceability and inventory all the way through to the nuances of business terminology. Secondly, an enterprise grade system for real-time decision making, “a system of action,” rather than that of retrospect.
“And the last component is layering on intelligence across a domain,” he continued, “which means that you’ve got the system that supports it, you’ve got the enterprise operational intelligence, and you can connect to all the OT systems where the shop floor actually runs. That gives you enterprise or industrial AI.”
Another issue Chris commonly sees is adoption being driven by the intention to employ an AI solution for its own sake rather than focusing on an outcome. This has to be flipped on its head to get the most out of enterprise AI. “It means that the company shifts from looking for features and functionality to driving specific outcomes,” he summarised.
In Chris’ experience of the UK manufacturing sector, it is in a fairly strong position to benefit from manufacturing intelligence, however, it faces specific challenges. One key factor is the “tribal knowledge” locked away in UK operations, which will first need to be extracted and processed in natural language before it can be used for enterprise intelligence.
Fortunately, with current advances in AI this is highly achievable: “AI can run multiple deterministic models, compare them, and then draw a probabilistic model on top of it. That is what humans did historically that you couldn’t unlock, which now AI brings to the table, which removes the tribal knowledge.
“So, the way that the UK manufacturers need to start tackling this is making sure they’ve got A), a system that understands their organisational context, B), have the systems that can react in real time, and then C), start layering AI on top of it,” Chris advised.
Having addressed some of the current challenges of manufacturing intelligence, the discussion concluded with a look at what hurdles it may face in the near future.
Chris fears that we’re going to see software providers building “moats” around their solutions in “a restrictive, defensive model,” locking down their logic and source codes, etc. Whereas progress will be driven by the opposite approach. He predicts that the software providers that will “win the next wave” will be those on the offensive; those “using AI to drive outcomes in the new modern world, connecting into more systems, providing trust, providing orchestration.”
“The next decade is going to belong to the providers of an intelligent system of outcome,” he concludes.
MEPCA would like to thank Chris Lloyd for speaking with our editor, and everyone else who welcomed the team to their stands, along with organisers, Nineteen Group, who once again delivered an event that went above and beyond.
