A3 launches new website to celebrate merger

The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) has officially absorbed several offshoot organizations into one unified brand.

A3 announced in December that it would bring the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA – Advancing Vision + Imaging, Motion Control and Motors Association (MCMA) and A3 Mexico associations under the A3 umbrella.

The A3 represents more than 1,100 member companies active in the automation industry, and combines nearly 50 years of leadership and strong relationships within the robotics, machine vision, motion control and motors, and artificial intelligence communities.

Under the new A3 brand, anyone interested in automation can use the association’s new home on automate.org, connect with new customers and suppliers, training, access resources for getting started and more.

“As we grew through the years, it became increasingly difficult to explain how the individual associations differed from each other, why companies had to join multiple associations, and why they remained separate at all in a world where companies are looking for automation solutions that often involve all of these technologies and more,” says Jeff Burnstein, A3 president, in a statement.

“Four years ago, board members of the individual associations met in Atlanta and decided that the challenges faced by each group were the same. They recommended that we explore merging into one front-facing brand that would attract companies not just in our current technology spaces but also in areas like artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and other automation technologies underrepresented in our association.

“The technology world is changing, and we had to change along with it.”