The state of manufacturing in the province of Québec, and more broadly Canada, will be a hot topic at Advanced Design & Manufacturing (AD&M), which includes Expoplast among four other co-locates, this week in Montréal. Keynote speakers Stewart Cramer, Chief Manufacturing Officer of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada, and Charles Milliard, President and CEO of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec, will share a 30,000-foot overview of manufacturing — where it is and where it’s headed. But more than 40 conference sessions, eight workshops, and an exhibition hall packed to the gills will ground the event with education and tools plastics processors and other manufacturers can use now to power their businesses forward.

During the event on Nov. 9 and 10 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, experts in the fields of automation, digitalization, the circular economy, cyber security, and much more will share insights with attendees.

On Nov. 10 at 2 p.m., a panel discussion on advances in robotics moderated by Jim Beretta brings together Peter Fitzgerald of Fanuc, Tharwat Fouad of Anubis 3D, and Stan Gleizer of Mecademic. They will discuss how innovations in hardware, software, and end-of-arm tooling are making automation more competitive, flexible, and adaptable to manufacturers of all stripes.

For a deeper dive into automation, the Grouping of Industrial Automation Companies will host eight workshop sessions on Nov. 9 covering everything from starting a project to securing funding. These sessions are in French.

A quartet of speakers have been lined up for a panel discussion on the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in manufacturing on Nov. 9 at 3 p.m. Moderated by Julien Billot, CEO of ScaleAI, which has funded more than 90 industrial projects across Canada to support AI-powered supply-chain optimization, the session will provide several concrete examples of how AI has helped companies to achieve business objectives.

A session scheduled for Nov. 10 at 10:10 a.m. poses the question: What is the new normal in plastics recycling? Answers will be forthcoming from a panel of four experts, who will address provincial, federal, and global regulations; viable alternatives to plastics; and barriers to implementation of sustainability policies at the enterprise level. Julie Daigle from the Canadian Food Innovation Network will moderate the session. Panelists include Martin Boily, Emballages Carrousel; Simon Chrétien, Polymers Alliance Quebec; and Roger Tambay, founder and CEO of Bioshur.

That is but a small sampling of the sessions at AD&M Montréal; the full schedule is available on the event website.

AD&M Montréal is Québec’s premier manufacturing event featuring five co-located shows — Expoplast, Automation Technology (ATX), Pack Ex, Design & Manufacturing (D&M), and Powder & Bulk Solids. The trade show and conference comes to the Palais des congrès de Montréal on Nov. 9 and 10. For more information and to register to attend, go to the AD&M Montréal website.