An AFRC funded Link research project between the University of Bristol and the Institute of Food Research, Bristol is examining the use of robots for meat cutting.

There is a new air of optimism at Unimation following the acquisition by Staubli. Brian Rooks visited the Telford headquarters and talked to Philip Binding, sales and marketing manager.

1989 has been the year of the top model launches in the French car industry. Anna Kochan looks at two new major investments by Citroen and Peugeot.

With robot sales on the increase ABB Robotics is in an optimistic mood. And, as president Stelio Demark recently told an international press gathering, it will invest $100 million in even more resources.

In just two years South Wales company, Otford has become a major supplier of mouldings to Sony's UK TV plant. And, robots are playing a key part in meeting the high quality demanded, as Brian Rooks discovered.

Peter Sorenti and Joe Bennaton discuss developments in off‐line programming and decribe the use of the GRASP 3D graphical simulation system to program a complex welding task at JCB.

French aerospace company SNECMA has just installed its second robotised blade deburring cell at the Gennevilliers site. Anna Kochan reports.

The Japanese earth moving equipment company Komatsu has one of the heaviest concentrations of robots in the UK, and some of the largest welding robots. Brian Hooks reports.

Volkswagen has radically changed its Emden plant. The flexible body‐in‐white facility can accept types other than the plant's main product, the Passat, and is a pathfinder for the whole of the VW Group.

Adding mobility to handling functions should lead to increased efficiency in manufacturing. This article examines the role of mobile robots now and in the year 2010.