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ISA provides technical resources and standards to help industrial automation professionals advance their careers and the field. We enable automation professionals worldwide to solve problems and enhance their skills by bringing people together to create new technologies and share best practices with future automation professionals.-
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About Us
As the official publication of the International Society of Automation (ISA), Automation.com exists to inform, connect, and empower industrial automation and control professionals worldwide. We curate and create trustworthy coverage across control systems, robotics and motion, OT cybersecurity, IIoT/Industry 4.0, connectivity, enterprise integration, and operations—translating complex technology into clear, actionable insight that improves safety, reliability, and performance. Our mission is to help practitioners and leaders make smarter decisions and accelerate digital transformation across plants, facilities, and infrastructure.
What We Do
- Editorial coverage
- Timely industry news, expert analysis, and practical explainers across key automation domains.
- Deep dives on architectures, standards, interoperability, and real‑world deployments.
- Practical resources
- White papers, webinars, and guides focused on implementation, maintenance, and ROI.
- Topic portals organizing articles, products, case studies, and events for efficient discovery.
- Community and learning
- Digital magazines and newsletters that keep teams current on trends, products, and best practices.
Why Our Publications Stand Out
- Largest, engaged reach
- Our newsletters and digital publications reach 85,000+ automation professionals globally—giving suppliers and practitioners the industry’s broadest opt‑in audience.
- Depth with clarity
- We prioritize practitioner‑ready content: concise summaries, visuals, and clear takeaways that explain the “why” and “how,” not just the “what.”
- Consistent cadence
- A dependable publishing rhythm—weekly general newsletters, topical newsletters, and recurring digital magazine issues—keeps readers informed without overload.
- Vendor‑neutral, standards‑aware
- Editorial guidelines emphasize accuracy, transparency, and non‑promotional, vendor‑agnostic coverage—focused on real plant constraints and standards‑based practices.
- Multi-format value
- From news and features to webinars and ebooks, content is organized across focused topic portals and delivered in formats that fit busy engineering schedules.
- Proven distribution heritage
- With decades of digital publishing experience and close alignment with ISA’s technical community, our content and audience have scaled consistently since 2000.
Automation is always a fast moving discipline and your content helps us all stay up to date oncurrent technology and trends.
Publications and Cadence
- Automation.com Website
- Industry news, feature articles, product announcements and events are published daily on our home page and topic portal pages. So come back and visit us often to read the latest automation happenings.
- Automation.com Monthly digital magazine
- Themed issues covering factory and process automation, OT cybersecurity and safety, IIoT and digital transformation, and annual trends—written for engineers, operations, and technical leaders.
- Automation Weekly general interest newsletter
- Weekly round‑up of top news, articles, product updates, resources, and events.
- Topical newsletters sent monthly
- Focused updates on Industrial Cybersecurity & Safety, Factory Automation & Control, IIoT & Digital Transformation, Process Automation & Control, Operations & Management, and Enterprise Integration & Networks.
- Featured Content Alerts sent weekly
- Curated alerts highlight new white papers, webinars, case studies, videos, and events from trusted sources.
Informative content helped us to learn about the latest tech trends and identify potential technologies and vendors.
Who We Serve
- Automation, controls, and process engineers modernizing systems and improving uptime
- OT/IT leaders bridging cybersecurity, data, and network connectivity
- Operations leaders and plant managers driving reliability, quality, and throughput
- Industrial technology executives and strategists planning roadmaps and investments
Editorial Principles
- Accuracy and rigor: strict sourcing, verification, and clarity standards
- Transparency: clear separation of editorial and sponsored content
- Practicality: implementation notes, vendor‑agnostic patterns, and lifecycle considerations
- Safety and security by design: coverage embeds functional safety and OT security perspectives throughout
Get Involved
Our History
Automation.com originated in 2000 as Automation Resources, Inc., founded by Alan Carty, who launched AutomationTechies.com—a job board website for factory automation and process control. By 2001, the website expanded into publishing technical articles, product announcements, and other industry resources. At the same time, the job board evolved into a full-service recruiting and staffing business. Rick Zabel joined the company in 2000 to focus on the website’s growth.
In 2004, the company acquired the Automation.com domain, formally separating the recruiting business (retaining the AutomationTechies brand) from the website, which evolved into an online magazine. Automation.com quickly became a leading resource for automation professionals, launching topic-specific automation portals spanning dozens of topics such as robotics, process control, and motion control. Updated daily, the site continues to publish 300+ news stories and articles per month.
Automation.com also produced weekly and topic-specific e-newsletters, including co-branded newsletters with the International Society of Automation (ISA), which partnered with the site in 2009. Due to the success of that partnership, ISA acquired Automation.com in 2014, integrating its technical resources with Automation.com’s digital expertise.
- 2000 - Started business as automationtechies.com, original focus was selling online job postings
- 2001 - Evolved into two businesses: Recruiting/staffing company and Online magazine
- 2004 - Purchased the Automation.com domain to create two separate businesses
- 2005 - Re-launched website at www.automation.com domain
- 2009 - ISA partners with Automation.com to publish and distribute InTech e-newsletters
- 2010 - Automation.com celebrates 10-year anniversary
- 2014 - ISA acquires Automation.com
- 2020 - Automation.com celebrates 20-year anniversary, rebrands logo, and launches new website
- 2025 - Automation.com celebrates 25-year anniversary, rebrands logo, and launches new website
Managing Director
Rick Zabel - Managing Director, Publisher, Occasional Editor
Rick has been with Automation.com since its inception in 2000 as AutomationTechies.com. After the International Society of Automation (ISA) acquired Automation.com in 2014, he was named Managing Director. Rick oversees ISA's book publications business and Automation.com's business and publishing activities, including the website, e-newsletters, and digital magazine, while also managing advertising and sponsorship solutions.
With a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Rick’s background includes roles in marketing, engineering, and sales with companies like Wunderlich-Malec Engineering and various automation product manufacturers and distributors.
Want to meet the rest of the team?
