The Reading Room – What’s The SCOOP?

Now in a regular Friday spot, this is the Reading Room, a weekly roundup of what we’ve been reading, watching and listening to. You can see these updates even more regularly if you follow me on LinkedIn or Twitter.

• Robot Firms Predict Huge Volumes for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, according to RBR (Robotic Business Review). Online spending on Black Friday is expected to surpass $12 billion this year. Cyber Monday is expected to hit $9.4 billion this year, up nearly 19% over 2018, according to Adobe Analytics. The completion of many of these orders will include autonomous mobile robots, which have been deployed to warehouses and supply-chain distribution centers around the world.
• Whilst we’re talking robots, it seems Amazon is planning a $40M robotics hub near Boston. According to TechCrunch, Amazon announced a plan to build a 350,000-square-foot robotics innovation hub in Westborough, Mass. The new facility will bring 200 technology and advanced manufacturing jobs when it opens in 2021.
• And what about when robots and 3D Printing combine, with a little help from AI. Check out this Wired story entitled, “Massive, AI-Powered Robots Are 3D-Printing Entire Rockets”. Relativity Space may have the biggest metal 3D printers in the world, and they’re cranking out parts to reinvent the rocket industry.
• If you were wondering who was nailing 3D Printing and Mass Customization, look no further than dentistry. Align Technology, the developers of the Invisalign system, has pioneered the use of 3D printing in the dental industry, printing more than 433,000 individualized clear aligners a day. According to Industry Week, “3D Printing Gives Manufacturer Teeth”
• Engineers will continue to be in demand for the foreseeable future. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment growth for these workers at nearly 140,000 new jobs expected over the 2016–26 decade. Industry Week reviews the Top 10 Colleges Producing Engineers.
• And according to Thomas Insights, Toyota is to Develop Innovation Hub, Brings U.S. Investment to $13 Billion by 2021. Toyota Motor North America announced the immediate plan to develop a Manufacturing Project Innovation Center (MPIC) at its Plano, Texas headquarters.

FROM PRODUCTRONICA: We’ve edited and posted a many more videos from Productronica, check out the Productronica 2019 playlist on our YouTube channel.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: I always really enjoy being a part of The EMS (The Eric Miscoll Show). Eric has a style of his own and a knack for picking interesting, and often outspoken, guests. This show, filmed in the SCOOPstudio at Productronica, with Dieter Weiss of in4ma and Rainer Kopppitz of Katek, was a fascinating insight into the German EMS sector, thanks to the candor and knowledge of the panel.

That’s it until next week! For more regular musing connect or follow me on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Read more, watch more, hear more, know more – that’s the SCOOP!