The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) recently announced a joint US-China Robotics Forum to be held April 4 at the Automate 2017 Show and Conference at Chicago’s McCormick Place. The forum will bring together A3’s Robotic Industries Association (RIA) and its counterpart, the China Robot Industry Alliance (CRIA). 

According to the World Robotics Report 2016, published by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), China has significantly expanded its leading position as the largest robotics market in the world purchasing 27 percent of the total supply in 2015.

The forum will feature several talks from industry leaders including Song Xiaogang, executive president, China Robot Industry Alliance and Qu Daokui, president, Siasun Robot & Automation Co Ltd. Speakers from the Robotic Industries Association will include Mike Jacobs, CEO, Applied Manufacturing Technologies and chair of the RIA Board and Scott Eckert, CEO of Rethink Robotics and RIA board member. 

Participating panelists include Daokui, president of Siasun; Liu Erbing, vice president of Risong Technology; Joe Gemma, chief regional officer of KUKA; and Stu Shepherd, CEO of Gudel US. The event starts April 4 at 10:15am in the Future of Automation theater on the Automate show floor.

“The US-China Robotics Forum is a groundbreaking event for robotics companies in both countries,” stated Jeff Burnstein, president of A3. “The forum paves the way for an ongoing exchange of ideas and the forging of strategic partnerships that will better serve global automation companies.”