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Bill Lydon on Muck Rack

Bill Lydon

  • Principal, AutomationFocus - Digital Manufacturing Transformation Advisor
  • None, AutomationFocus.com
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
As seen in: LinkedIn, Manufacturing.net, InTech Magazine, Automation.com, Automated Buildings
Covers:  robotics, sensors, big data, embedded controls, wireless sensors, manufacturing software, m2m (machine to machine), process automation, process control, manufacturing automation
Doesn't Cover: consumer
Experienced automation industry consultant & author providing advice, insights; industry analysis. Frequent articles in Automation.com & InTech magazine.

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Bill Lydon’s Biography

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About Bill Lydon

Manufacturing automation industry expert, consultant and editor of Automation.com ( www.automation.com ) and the International Society of Automation InTech magazine ( http://ISA.org/InTech ) providing insights and industry analysis. Experienced industrial, process control, and building automation professional with technology and business experience including product design, corporate experience, co-founder & president of a start-up company and industry consultant. http://wly…

Bill Lydon’s Journalist Portfolio

Automation & Control Trends in 2013

Automation & Control Trends in 2013

This article is an update to my 2012 Trends Article and expresses my thoughts on major automation and control…

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Silver-bullet syndrome in manufacturing

Silver-bullet syndrome in manufacturing

July/August 2013 Talk to Me By Bill Lydon, InTech, Chief Editor Over my years of working in automation and ot…

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Engineering Lessons from Mars

Engineering Lessons from Mars

By Bill Lydon, Editor Doug McCuistion, former Director of the Mars Exploration Program for NASA, gave an exce…

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Is it time for a new automation architecture?

Is it time for a new automation architecture?

By Bill Lydon, Editor Is it time for a new automation architecture instead of debating over existing ones? I …

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Schneider Electric closing in on Invensys purchase - Benefits and Challenges

Schneider Electric closing in on Invensys purchase - Benefits and Challenges

By Bill Lydon, Editor Schneider Electric is closing in on the purchase of Invensys. The next major milestones…

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Application engineering and product innovations

Application engineering and product innovations

November/December 2012 Talk to Me By Bill Lydon, InTech, Chief Editor Question: Is it more important for engi…

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Articles

Low-Code on the Plant Floor: Empowering Engineers or Creating the Next Technical Debt Bomb?

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By Nahla Davies, Bob Rice, Bill Lydon
| Automation.com Verified
Your plant already runs on low-code. It has for thirty years, and it was called Excel. Your plant already runs on low-code. It has for thirty years, and it was called Excel. Somewhere in your operation right now is a spreadsheet that schedules production, calculates a blend, or tracks OEE, built by a process engineer who left in 2019, understood by nobody and quietly load-bearing.
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2026 Check-In: Was the Agentic AI Hype Just a Mirage?

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By Nahla Davies, Bill Lydon, Gregory McMillan
| Automation.com Verified
Agentic AI is a real technology that was sold on a fictional timeline, and telling those two things apart is the most useful thing an automation professional can do this year. Halfway through 2026, it's fair to ask what all the agentic AI noise actually delivered. Two years ago, the promises arrived in bulk. Gartner projected that by 2028, a third of enterprise software would include agentic AI and 15% of day-to-day work decisions would be made autonomously.
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Datanomix at IMTS 2026: Digital Production Bundles Take the Shop Floor Paperless

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By Kevin Greenway, Gregory McMillan, Bill Lydon
| Automation.com Verified
The print, the setup sheet, the tooling sheet and the inspection plan: All delivered to the operator at the machine, all from one platform. NASHUA, N.H., July 20, 2026 — In most precision shops, the print is clipped to the bench, the setup sheet is in someone's email, and the operator walks back to the office to confirm they're on the right rev. That's one of the problems Datanomix is solving at IMTS 2026.
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Interview

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What was your first job as a journalist?

Automation.com

Have you ever used a typewriter?

Yes, not in years.

How is social media changing news?

Speed