The Future Is a Machine That Can Monitor, Correct and Protect Itself

IMTS is one of the world’s largest manufacturing technology exhibitions. What are Marposs’ key objectives for participating in IMTS 2026?

IMTS is one of the most important opportunities for us to meet the North American manufacturing community and demonstrate how Marposs is evolving together with the industry.

This year, our main message is Lights-Out Manufacturing. Manufacturers are being asked to produce more, maintain extremely high quality standards, and at the same time manage a growing shortage of skilled labor. Our objective is to show that automation alone is not enough. The manufacturing process also needs to be able to measure, monitor, correct and protect itself.

At IMTS, we want customers to see Marposs not simply as a supplier of individual measurement products, but as a technology partner capable of integrating measurement, process control and machine protection into a complete manufacturing solution.

Could you give our readers an overview of the major technologies and innovations Marposs is unveiling at this year’s exhibition?

We are presenting technologies across the entire manufacturing process, from machine and tool monitoring to in-process and post-process measurement.

One of the main highlights is our Lights-Out Manufacturing package demonstration on a FANUC ROBODRILL, where several Marposs technologies work together to demonstrate unattended machining. GEMCMS protects the machine from collisions, MUPS performs in-machine measurement, and QuickSPC uses measurement data to automatically compensate machine offsets.

We are also introducing advanced tool-control technologies such as VTS, our optical Visual Tool Setter, and ML3G, our new non-contact laser tool measurement system. In grinding, we are showcasing new developments in process monitoring and measurement, while other solutions address gauging, gear inspection and aerospace applications.

The important point is not simply the number of technologies. It is how they can communicate and work together to create a more intelligent and reliable manufacturing process.

Manufacturing is moving from automation to intelligence. How does Marposs define “Machine Intelligence”?

For Marposs, machine intelligence means giving the manufacturing process the ability to understand what is happening and react accordingly.

A truly intelligent machine does more than simply execute a programmed cycle. It can monitor its condition in real time, measure the part and the tool, assess process variations, make the necessary corrections, and protect itself when abnormal conditions occur, all autonomously.

This is the foundation of what we are demonstrating with Lights-Out Manufacturing. By combining sensors, measurement systems, software and process control, we can transform the machine from something that simply follows instructions into a manufacturing system capable of making informed adjustments with minimal operator intervention.

The result is a manufacturing process capable of maintaining quality, stability, and machine availability with minimal operator intervention — making autonomous, safe, reliable, and repeatable production possible.

Do you see predictive quality becoming the next major competitive advantage for manufacturers?

Yes, absolutely. The market is becoming increasingly demanding in terms of quality, precision, and traceability, and this is especially true in industries such as aerospace and defense, where tolerances are extremely tight and quality requirements are critical.

At the same time, quality inspection can become a bottleneck in the manufacturing process, particularly when it depends heavily on skilled operators and manual inspection.

Machine intelligence can help move quality control directly into the manufacturing process. By continuously measuring, monitoring, and analyzing process conditions, the machine can identify variations earlier and make corrections before they result in non-conforming parts.

This allows manufacturers to speed up the overall production process while maintaining—and potentially improving—the level of quality required by increasingly demanding markets.

One of the biggest challenges facing global manufacturers today is the shortage of skilled manpower. How can intelligent automation help bridge this gap?

The shortage of skilled operators is one of the major reasons we selected Lights-Out Manufacturing as our theme for IMTS.

The objective is not to remove people from manufacturing, it is to reduce the number of repetitive interventions that require an experienced operator to constantly supervise the machine.

If the machine can automatically verify the workpiece, monitor the tool, compensate for process variation and protect itself from abnormal conditions, skilled employees can focus their expertise where it creates more value.

This also allows manufacturers to extend productive hours into nights, weekends and periods between shifts, increasing machine utilization without requiring the same level of continuous operator presence.

The goal is not less control; it is more control with less manual intervention.

Which industries in the U.S. are driving demand for advanced metrology and process monitoring solutions?

The automotive industry continues to be extremely important for Marposs, including both traditional and electric mobility. However, we see particularly strong opportunities for growth in aerospace and defense in the United States.

These industries manufacture extremely complex and high-value components where precision, process reliability, traceability and machine protection are critical.

For Marposs, aerospace and defense represent an important strategic growth area because our technologies can support many different stages of the manufacturing process—from machine monitoring and tool control to in-process and post-process measurement.

We see significant potential to bring the experience Marposs has developed across precision manufacturing into these expanding U.S. markets.

Aerospace manufacturers demand extremely tight tolerances. What innovations has Marposs developed specifically for this sector?

Aerospace is a good example of why Marposs’ strength is not limited to one specific product.

Every aerospace manufacturing application can have very different requirements depending on the component, machine, process and customer’s quality objectives. For this reason, our approach is often project-based and highly customized.

We work with the customer to understand the complete manufacturing process and then determine the right combination of measurement, monitoring, tool-control and process-control technologies.

At IMTS, for example, our MUPS probing system will demonstrate the inspection of a turbine blade directly on the machine, with the measurement data feeding QuickSPC to automatically compensate machine offsets.

For aerospace customers, the value of Marposs is therefore our ability to combine standard technologies with application engineering and customized solutions to solve very specific manufacturing challenges.

Sustainability has become a boardroom priority. How can precision measurement contribute to greener manufacturing?

Precision measurement can make a very direct contribution to sustainability by reducing scrap and avoiding unnecessary rework. When you can measure and control the process in real time, you detect variations earlier and avoid wasting material, energy, and machine time producing parts that will ultimately be rejected.

Energy efficiency is another important part of the equation. With solutions such as Marposs C-ENERGY, manufacturers can monitor energy consumption at the machine and process level, providing greater visibility into where energy is being used and where efficiencies can be achieved.

Ultimately, sustainability and productivity go hand in hand: produce more good parts, generate less scrap, and use energy more efficiently.

What emerging technologies excite you the most over the next five years?

I am particularly interested in technologies that will make Lights-Out Manufacturing increasingly achievable and scalable.

We are moving toward manufacturing systems that can continuously understand their own condition: measuring parts and tools, detecting wear, monitoring the machining process, recognizing abnormal behavior and automatically correcting variations.

AI, advanced sensors, machine learning and data analytics will accelerate this development, but their real value will come from how effectively they are integrated into the manufacturing process.

The future is a machine that does not simply run automatically, but can increasingly monitor itself, correct itself and protect itself. That is the direction that I believe will fundamentally change manufacturing over the next five years.

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As President of Marposs USA, what are your strategic priorities for the North American market over the coming years?

Our priority is to continue expanding Marposs consistently across the United States and to maximize the full potential of the company in this market.

Marposs has a very broad portfolio and decades of experience across many manufacturing sectors. We want to make sure that customers throughout the country have access not only to our technologies, but also to the local engineering, application knowledge and support required to successfully implement them.

At the same time, one of our major strategic priorities is to further develop our presence in aerospace and defense. The United States has an extremely strong aerospace manufacturing base, and we believe Marposs has significant potential to contribute through our expertise in precision measurement, process monitoring, machine protection and customized manufacturing solutions.

Ultimately, our objective is sustainable growth: expanding geographically, developing new industries and positioning Marposs as a long-term technology partner for advanced manufacturing in North America.

Finally, what message would you like to share with manufacturers visiting IMTS 2026 and with the readers of Machine Insider?

My message would be: come and see what is possible to achieve when Marposs machine intelligence become part of the manufacturing process.

At IMTS, we want visitors to experience how Marposs technologies can connect measurement, tool control, process monitoring and machine protection to create a smarter and increasingly autonomous production environment.

Marposs machine intelligence is not about running a factory without people. It is about creating a process that is more reliable, more productive and capable of maintaining quality with less manual intervention.

We invite manufacturers to bring us their production challenges. Whether the objective is improving quality, reducing operator dependency, protecting valuable machines or increasing utilization, our role is to work together with the customer to identify the right solution.

Marposs will be at IMTS 2026 in East Hall, Level 3, Booth #134324.