IPPE 2026: automation decisions across the production line
Feed-mill controls, robotic handling and production education put the focus on connected operations in Atlanta.
Automation in food and animal-feed production has to work within an entire process. A faster individual machine is only useful when upstream supply, downstream handling and the people operating the line can keep pace. IPPE provided a broad setting for those discussions.
Final figures and weather disruption
IPPE reported 1,375 exhibitors and 662,214 square feet of exhibits for its January 27–29 Atlanta edition. Its February 19 release distinguished 32,550 registered attendees from approximately 29,000 who attended after inclement weather affected travel.
Keeping registration and attendance separate gives a more accurate account of the event’s reach than treating the larger number as a headcount on the floor.
Training alongside the machinery
The wrap-up report lists more than 80 hours of education and over 90 TECHTalks. Topics included plant operations, food safety and sustainability, with exhibitor sessions addressing operational and technical issues.
These programs can help a purchasing team frame better questions. A proposed automation project needs a defined operating problem and a baseline against which the business can evaluate its results.
Controls, handling and vision
The official product showcase included WEM Automation’s WEM6000 feed-mill automation, Oxipital AI’s V-CORTX industrial vision and Stäubli’s FL1500 forklift mobile robot. These were showcase entries, not a statement that each won an award.
They address different parts of production. Their presence suggests useful areas for investigation, but a demonstration alone cannot establish performance under a buyer’s own operating conditions.
Evaluating the connections
A line review should consider how equipment communicates, where operators intervene and what happens when a component stops. Ask suppliers to describe changeovers, maintenance access and recovery from interruptions, as well as normal operation. Those details help reveal whether a proposal solves a bottleneck or simply moves it elsewhere.
A disciplined post-show shortlist
Group follow-up work around a specific production challenge rather than a brand list. Agree on the evidence required from each supplier and involve operations, maintenance and quality teams in the review. That creates a clearer route from an exhibition discussion to a trial that can answer the business’s actual questions.
Source: IPPE 2026 wrap-up, final release and product showcase; photos: USPOULTRY/IPPE