You might have visions of robots, drones, and voice-enabled technology, machines that can communicate with other machines, and biometric security systems. Well, the reality is that we're much closer to this vision than you might realize. For example, a recent study from Epicor has found that 41 percent of businesses are already implementing some form of robot technology*. This is a trend that we're also seeing among our customers. For example, in the Netherlands, Boers & Co FineMetalworking Group is in the process of trialling Industry 4.0 initiatives in their manufacturing facilities, while British producer of engineered access hardware solutions, Southco, has embraced the smart factory. Our experiences of working with these businesses as they embrace factory of the future concepts, coupled with our own research, have taught us that there are many advantages to working with the latest innovations.