As manufacturers face skilled labor shortages, rising costs, and pressure to maximize machine usage, Mitsubishi Electric Automation will showcase how robotic machine tending can deliver measurable productivity gains and fast returns on investment at IMTS 2026. The company will feature live demonstrations of LoadMate Plus and ARIA, two pre-engineered robotic machine-tending solutions designed to help manufacturers automate CNC mills and lathes:
- LoadMate Plus is designed for quick setup and long-term deployment at a single machine. It can be customized for different machine layouts, part sizes, and safety requirements while integrating directly with Mitsubishi Electric CNCs and robots.
- ARIA (Automated Robotic Industrial Assistant) is a compact, configurable solution for mill and lathe tending in space-constrained environments. It supports multiple robot types and can be relocated within a facility, making it ideal for shared or expanding automation strategies.
Machine tending is the process of loading and unloading parts or materials into a machine tool center, commonly used with vertical machining center mills and turning centers (lathes), including CNC Swiss Machines. Automated machine tending enables longer spindle uptime, improved process consistency, and redeployment of skilled workers to higher-value tasks. Robotic tending also reduces unplanned downtime and supports lights-out or extended-hours production.
“For many manufacturers, robotic machine tending is one of the most practical and financially justifiable entry points into automation,” said David Simak, product manager (service) at Mitsubishi Electric Automation, in a press release. “When implemented correctly, it delivers productivity improvements that can be measured quickly on the shop floor.”
In February 2024, Design World shared a case study on how this system helped TL Aerotek, a small job milling shop, as they experienced an influx of orders. The company needed a way to meet rising demand while reducing dependence on uncertain labor availability and supporting business growth. The shop reached out to Expand Machinery, their milling machine supplier, for help. Expand identified a chance to automate the loading and unloading of materials on the customer’s machine tool, which was already running a Mitsubishi Electric M8 Series CNC.
The goal was to eliminate the need for someone to constantly tend the machine by hand. To accomplish this, Expand Machinery recommended Mitsubishi’s LoadMate Plus to handle the machine-tending work automatically. Since it’s a plug-and-play system with full configurability, it is well-suited for stand-alone cells or for integration into larger multi-solution setups. The 4×4 machine-tending configuration was paired with TL Aerotek’s existing machine tool and outfitted with an RV20 six-axis robot arm. Integration with the CNC is built in via a straightforward Ethernet connection. Once the solution was up and running, the system operated unattended for a full 24 hours and delivered three times the output that TL Aerotek had previously produced.
Attendees of IMTS 2026 can visit booth #338136 to view live machine tending demonstrations, speak with application experts, and discuss ROI considerations for their specific operations.
Mitsubishi Electric Automation
us.mitsubishielectric.com/fa/en
Filed Under: Machine tools + subtractive manufacturing, AUTOMATION, MANUFACTURING
