"The new name more accurately reflects our mission, which is to be the global advocate for the benefits of automation," said Jeff Burnstein, president of A3.

"As an energetic voice for the need to automate, A3 will focus primarily on why automating is good," said Rich Litt, outgoing chair of A3.

"RIA, AIA and MCA will continue to focus on how companies and organizations specifically can apply robots, vision and motion control," said Litt.

A3 currently represents more than 650 companies involved in automation from more than 30 nations.

The A3 board of directors consists of industry leaders from the robotics, vision and motion control industries. The 2012-13 board will be chaired by Mike Cyros, Allied Vision Technologies, who succeeds Rich Litt of Genesis Systems.

For more information on A3, contact association headquarters at (734) 994-6088.