"There is no force on earth more powerful than an idea whose time has come" -Victor Hugo In the wake of the U.S. Administration's announced tariffs against Chinese goods, the domestic market took a decidedly negative turn on Friday's trading. The S & P 500 was virtually flat for the week; however, the higher beta bot names experienced a rather significant downturn. The Bot Index fell 1.10% as, once again, Asian stocks led the slide and energy companies worried about OPEC's expected output increase. The gainers in the Bot Index noted the continued strength in 3-D Systems and IRobot, both of which were among the prior week's best gainers. IRobot's gain follows an almost double-digit improvement for the June 8th week.

There is no force on earth more powerful than an idea whose time has come. Robotic companies continued their two-week pattern of underperformance this week relative to the broader markets. Fully twelve members of the 30 stock Bot Index fell over 3% during the week and drove the Index to a virtual flat performance versus the S & P 500's .35% Four stocks in the health-care sector were among the greatest losers due to a Motley Fool article that focused on competition in the sector. Despite a two for one stock split on December 4th, shares of Cognex traded down over seven percent.

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Whether you're new to automation or are an experienced user, Automate has the solutions for you! Taking place April 3-6, 2017 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Automate offers the opportunity to connect with industry experts and over 300 exhibitors. While at the show, be sure to attend the Automate Conference, featuring the 48th Annual International Symposium on Robotics. The Automate Conference offers everything from a basic understanding of automation to more advanced topics in courses taught by industry professionals. To learn more about Automate and to register for the show and conference, visit the Automate website.

Putting Industry 4.0 into practice has become a universal lesson throughout the industry. However, most Industry 4.0 interpretations in recent years have mainly focused on the data side of things. To extend beyond the focus, this year at the 2016 Taipei International Industrial Automation Exhibition, NEXCOM will demonstrate how it harnesses the technology of edge to cloud connectivity, cloud-based machine learning and cognitive computing to tap into the power of big data analytics to improve factory operations. The first step to Industry 4.0 transformation is to establish connectivity between all the devices and equipment in a factory, then integrate cloud computing, big data analytics and artificial intelligence to create cyber-physical systems for building a smart factory. On the surface, Industry 4.0 may seem simple, but the underlying transformation must take various variables into account, such as robots, motion control systems, device connectivity and communication protocols.