Altus Announces Return of ‘Factory of the Future’ for 2026

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Altus Group, a leading distributor of capital equipment for electronics manufacturing in the UK and Ireland, has announced the return of its ‘Factory of the Future’ event for 2026. Taking place from 22–24 September in Buckinghamshire, the three-day event will once again bring together leading manufacturing technologies and suppliers from across the electronics industry.

Following two successful events hosted at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry, this year’s Factory of the Future will introduce a new format, and take place inside a customer’s manufacturing facility. The site has recently invested in one of the most advanced SMT lines in the UK, giving attendees the opportunity to see a real high-performance production environment.

Joe Booth, CEO of Altus Group, said: “Factory of the Future has always been about giving manufacturers the opportunity to see complete production solutions and technologies working together across the full assembly process.

“For 2026, we wanted to take that concept even further by hosting the event inside a customer manufacturing facility, giving attendees the opportunity to see how advanced SMT technologies are implemented within a real production operation.

“The event also comes at an important time for the UK and Ireland manufacturing sector. We continue to see strong levels of investment in capital equipment, driven by increasing production demand, major programme opportunities, and manufacturers preparing for future growth.”

The host company, which will be revealed closer to the event, is a UK-based OEM developing and manufacturing a high-technology product range with significant market potential and ambitious production forecasts. The facility serves as the company’s key technology centre and will offer visitors the opportunity to learn more about an important future-focused technology and how it is manufactured at scale.

The SMT line on display will represent a full turnkey assembly solution delivered by Altus in partnership with Fuji, highlighting Altus’ capability as a complete manufacturing solutions provider. The line will feature a broad range of SMT processes, including board handling, laser marking, screen printing, solder paste jetting, SPI, pick-and-place, vacuum reflow, and 3D AOI inspection.

Alongside SMT assembly technologies, the event will also showcase conventional assembly solutions supporting through-hole automation, back-end processes such as conformal coating and cleaning, component management systems designed to improve traceability and handling efficiency, and a broad range of manufacturing consumables, further highlighting Altus’ turnkey manufacturing offering.