February 2026 Volume 8

AUTOMATION

(or tooling without a press) doesn’t get much done. This is not about deskilling the trade. In many cases, it does the opposite. By removing the physical grind and day-to-day triage, automation allows skilled forgers to focus on higher-value work: understanding process behavior, training newer operators, and keeping the operation within a tight, repeatable window. When automation fails, forging plants tend to blame the technology. The truth is harsher: the failure is almost always architectural. Automation that ignores human workflow creates friction. Automation that extends human capability creates resilience. What Human-Automation Symbiosis Actually Looks Like on the Forging Floor Once the false choice between “manual craftsmanship” and “lights-out automation” is removed, the path forward becomes much clearer. There’s a reason the best plants stopped arguing about it. Human-automation symbiosis isn’t abstract. It’s not a vision statement. It shows up in how forging cells are designed, how work is divided, and how responsibility is assigned between people and machines. At its core, the model is simple: automation absorbs repetition, exposure and consistency requirements, while skilled people retain judgment, control and accountability. Each does the work it is best suited for. On the floor, that typically means automation taking over tasks that rely on endurance rather than expertise. Material handling is a common starting point. Robots feeding billets don’t get tired, don’t rush when the schedule tightens, and don’t lose focus when temperatures climb. A modern forging press designed as part of an integrated system, not a standalone machine. That distinction matters because relying on human endurance instead of system design carries predictable consequences. Across U.S. workplaces, lifting, pushing, pulling and carrying account for roughly one-third of all recordable injuries each year, with more than 110,000 cases annually tied specifically to lifting or lowering loads. 7 If the data is this consistent, why are so many forging processes still built around human endurance? It makes about as much sense as trusting duct tape to be a long-term solution. The same logic applies to automated billet heating, die lubrication and transfer systems. These are tasks where consistency matters. When they’re automated, variability shrinks. Crucially, none of this removes the forger from the process. In symbiotic systems, skilled operators still own setup, tuning, and decision-making. They read the process, respond to material behavior, and intervene when conditions drift. Automation doesn’t replace that judgment. It protects it by removing distraction, fatigue, and unnecessary physical load. The shift is subtle. The impact is not. Instead of spending their time compensating for variability, experienced forgers oversee systems. Instead of reacting to drift, they keep the process inside a tight, repeatable window. Their expertise isn’t diluted. It’s finally applied where it actually moves the needle. Well-designed symbiotic cells also reduce the hidden risks that impact overstretched operations. Automated tool changes

and guided setups reduce dependency on memory and tribal knowledge at the exact moment manufacturers are losing that expertise: recent estimates suggest about 26% of the U.S. manufacturing workforce (or roughly 3.9 million people), is already 55 or older and approaching retirement, with one analysis projecting around 1.8 million manufacturing workers will retire over just the next five years. 8 Sensors and feedback loops then give operators clear, repeatable signals instead of forcing them to rely on intuition alone, which becomes harder to sustain as that experience walks out the door. This is why the most successful automation projects don’t start with equipment specifications. They pause the spec-sheet reflex — tonnage, stroke length, robot reach — and focus on the operational questions that decide the outcome: • Which tasks are creating fatigue or unnecessary exposure? • Where does inconsistency enter the process: upstream, during forming, or downstream? • Which decisions genuinely require human judgment, and which ones only exist because the system isn’t doing its job? Those questions change the outcome. When automation is designed around workflow instead of hardware, the focus shifts from individual machines to the system as a whole. Presses, automation, tooling, controls and material handling are treated as interdependent elements, not standalone purchases. The goal isn’t to automate everything. It’s to remove friction, reduce variability, and protect the decisions that actually matter. In practice, that often means rethinking the press itself as part of an integrated cell rather than a fixed centerpiece. Ram motion, dwell, energy delivery, and control architecture are considered alongside automation timing, transfer logic, and operator interaction. The press is no longer just a force generator. It becomes a coordinated participant in the process. Equally important is how operators interact with the system. Successful projects account for how setups are performed, how adjustments are made, how feedback is communicated, and how exceptions are handled. Automation supports those actions instead of complicating them. Controls are designed for clarity, not novelty. Changeovers are engineered to be repeatable, not heroic. This kind of integration doesn’t happen by accident. It requires deep familiarity with forging processes, press behavior, automation constraints, and real shop-floor conditions. It requires designing the system as a whole (the press, automation, tooling, and people), rather than stitching components together after the fact. That’s the difference between automation that looks impressive on paper and automation that actually survives production. When workflow drives the design, automation stops feeling like an add-on. It becomes part of how the forging operation thinks, moves, and responds. And that’s when the benefits start to compound. Proof That This Isn’t Theoretical One clear example of human-automation symbiosis in practice is the 155 mm artillery shell factory being developed by Macrodyne Technologies in collaboration with UNION. A venture-backed company whose vision is to engineer agile Factories-as-a Stockpile™ for the West, all UNION factories and SKUs will focus on surge production supporting the national security of the U.S. and Allies.

FIA MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2026 26