The only news emanating from Automation Fair last week was the announcement of a plan to build a 1 million sq ft manufacturing and warehousing facility in southeast Wisconsin. Executives also reinforced earlier news regarding its regrouping of the cybersecurity SecureOT Solution Suite and the new ControlLogix 5590.
Executives appeared before the assembled media and analyst folks attending to highlight areas of emphasis that Rockwell Automation wished to promote. These talks were enlightening about the current state of Rockwell Automation’s thinking on what is important in this market and where Rockwell fits at this time.
Bob Buttermore, senior vice president, chief supply chain officer, has often appeared as the point person for using Rockwell products and services to improve internal and external supply chains within the company. Part of the new plant announcement included investing $2B in Rockwell operations to test and prove the next generation of industrial technology.
Our existing facilities in Singapore, Twinsburg and Milwaukee serve as live innovation labs, showing how new tools and processes perform in real-world manufacturing. These plants give customers a front-row seat to breakthrough solutions and demonstrate how Rockwell is shaping the future of smart, efficient and resilient manufacturing.
The old Silicon Valley phrase was “eating your own dog food.” The today Rockwell Automation version is Rok on Rok. Buttermore told us the team in Singapore took initiative to work with the local government and internal Rockwell resources to bring reality to “factory of the future” improvements. Learnings from that initiative are being applied within the Twinsburg, Ohio facility. They will be used to build the new Wisconsin facility when the time comes.
Special kudos to Buttermore for going beyond the pablum “we use AI” phrase to pinpointing which aspects of AI are used where. So refreshing to get something closer to specifics.
Speaking of AI, Rockwell has an executive in charge. Jordan Reynolds, Vice President, Artificial Intelligence & Autonomy, spoke about companies going beyond embedding AI in technology by incorporating it in workflows, and further using it to empower the people using the technology.
His talking point—As AI becomes more deeply embedded in operations, manufacturers must ensure their teams are not only equipped with the right skills but also confident in using AI to make faster, smarter decisions. In fact, 47% of manufacturers responded that AI comfortability is a “very important skill” in their workforce according to the 2025 State of Smart Manufacturing Report, which marks a 10% increase from 2024.
Sustainability remains an important mission. A panel brought together leaders from Circulor, Bolder Industries, and Utility Global to discuss how their innovations are accelerating the transition to a low-carbon future. The conversation highlighted the role of circular manufacturing, supply chain transparency, and clean hydrogen in building reliable and sustainable energy infrastructure. Panelists discussed overcoming regulatory, operational, and technological challenges through strategic partnerships and advanced automation.
My long history with Rockwell Automation includes nothing about robotics. Given a couple of recent acquisitions, the company has a new vice president of robotics, Ryan Gariepy. He was CTO of OTTO, the recently acquired AMR company. He’s excited about bringing together the array of robotics technology. This includes software Unified Robot Control and software-defined automation. Mobile with Clearpath development platform and the OTTO Autonomous Mobile Robotics. An integration ecosystems with Emulate 3D and OTTO Fleet Manager.
Running the anchor leg of the relay was Dan DeYoung, Vice President & General Manager, Design & Control. We saw him later showing off the ControlLogix 5590. This session focused on the future of software-defined automation. Rockwell sees the future of industrial automation as one where control systems can rapidly adapt and grow as new disciplines emerge. “With software defined automation, we are rethinking how robotics, vision, AI and ML come together with the core strengths of our multidiscipline control. Our focus is on creating an environment where these technologies can be integrated with speed and simplicity, shaping a future where automation is more flexible, scalable and ready for what’s next.”
It was at this point that a question from the audience asked about adoption of IEC 61131 programming and especially about the PLCOpen nirvana of write once/run anywhere. That is, write control code in your IDE of choice in a 61131 language and then target control platforms from any vendor. There was no comment. (Something I expected.) As Ed Sheeran put it, I was Thinking Out Loud on this longer thought piece about that topic.
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