What does autonomous production look like in practice? At one ANCA AIMS Automate autonomous installation, a machine ran continuously for 19 days before a scheduled setup change ended the streak. As manufacturers face increasing pressure to improve productivity, reduce labor constraints, and make faster decisions, autonomous production is emerging as a key competitive advantage. Often described as Industry 5.0, this next phase of manufacturing leverages AI and connected technologies to enable production systems to make decisions, adapt to change, and optimize performance with minimal human intervention. Sam Kirkpatrick, product manager at ANCA (IMTS booth #237406), discusses three crucial tips for building foundational infrastructure that manufacturers should consider when moving toward Industry 5.0. He explains how ANCA and Zoller (IMTS booth #432018) are helping manufacturers achieve autonomous production through connected systems that integrate grinding, measurement, automation, and material handling for lights-out manufacturing and real-time decision-making. Download NowBuild the Foundation for Autonomous Production Kirkpatrick notes that Industry 5.0, in which AI is applied to connected systems to leverage data, is arriving faster than previous revolutions. Therefore, manufacturers and grinding shops still running Industry 3.0 must focus on building their foundational infrastructure first so they can begin to leverage the gains from their data through smart technologies. This strategy can then help them move into Industry 4.0, a necessary step to prepare for 5.0 shifts. He emphasizes that understanding data is the first step before responsibly incorporating smart technologies into manufacturing operations. “Data forms the foundation of efficiency gains,” Kirkpatrick says. “If we make the right data visible at the right time and to the right place, it repeatedly produces 10% to 30% improvements in real-world performance even when nothing else changes.” Kirkpatrick believes the industry is approaching a point where the buying differentiator for a machine will be the quality and accessibility of the data manufacturers can extract from their equipment and use to improve operations. He highlights the following prerequisites manufacturers must consider and enable in their own operations before they can achieve lights-out manufacturing and real-time decision-making: 1. Ensure Data Integrity Before applying new technologies, manufacturers must ensure their data is accurate and available. Reliable data enables better control processes while creating opportunities for future optimizations through automation and AI. 2. Standardize and Stabilize Processes Repeatable, standard processes should be enforced in manufacturing operations. It’s imperative to iron out minor machine-to-machine or operator-to-operator deviations first. Then, a company can begin thinking about automation and lights-out manufacturing. "Sometimes you do need to change your process in order to unlock real autonomous production,” Kirkpatrick notes. This investment is smaller than one might think and yields much larger gains down the line. “Don’t let the avoidance of fixing some of these foundational things keep you from unlocking the potential of autonomous production and connected systems,” he adds. 3. Connect Systems for Real-Time Decisions Data must flow automatically from the data source to the decision point in a company’s manufacturing operation. “[The data] has got to bridge the siloed IT and OT systems,” he says. “It’s got to make it to the right place and be visible to the right people or systems.” Good connectivity allows fast data movement. According to Kirkpatrick, ensuring real-time decision-making means getting the data “where it needs to go, as soon as possible and as soon as it’s ready.” Register NowFrom Connected Data to Autonomous Production Regarding customer outcomes, ANCA’s AIMS platform has seen 20% to 30% productivity increases on machines where AIMS Automate is applied, and additionally, up to 60% labor reduction per machine. “We can reach machine-to-operator ratios of 12-plus, which is about double what most people currently run,” Kirkpatrick says. With ANCA’s AIMS solutions, operators are focusing on improvement rather than babysitting machines, and this shift has made their work feel more meaningful. They also have real-time data and dashboards to help them optimize their work. Kirkpatrick believes that “autonomous systems aren’t here to replace good people. They’re here to augment them.” Looking Ahead Lights-out manufacturing is a possibility now. For manufacturing companies not yet operating at Industry 4.0, there is still some time to prepare for 5.0. However, Kirkpatrick advises manufacturers to take “crossing the industry 4.0 threshold seriously” to run autonomous production and leverage what’s coming with machine learning, AI-driven insights, and large data sets. Register now for IMTS 2026 - The International Manufacturing Technology Show, Sept. 14-19, in Chicago, to find the tools, connections, and ideas that will move your shop forward. To find advanced manufacturing solutions for autonomous production, start researching exhibitors using keywords at IMTS.com/ExhibitorSearch. Do you have input about this article? Tell us about it.
A machine ran autonomously for 19 days straight. Learn the three foundational steps ANCA says manufacturers must take now to prepare for lights-out production.
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