The UK Industrial Vision Association (UKIVA) is a UK trade membership organisation headquartered in
Wallington,
Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
.
UKIVA was founded on 18 March 1992 as an independent voice for the industrial vision industry in the UK. In 2009, it also became part of the PPMA Group of Associations (now Automate UK) trading brand, which represents a range of processing equipment and packaging machinery manufacturers, Machine Vision, and Robotic and Automation suppliers in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and across Western Europe and North America.
Purpose
UKIVA promotes the use of image processing technology throughout the UK industry; providing an industry voice and helping its member companies to gain a competitive advantage through seminars, conferences, and technical information.
Machine Vision Conference & Exhibition
Due to the growing demand and interest in machine vision technology, UKIVA staged its first Machine Vision Conference & Exhibition on 27 April 2017 at the
Arena MK
The Marshall Arena (formerly known as Arena MK, also Milton Keynes Arena) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, located beside Stadium MK. The multi-use event space is positioned over three floors and anti ...
, Milton Keynes, which has become an annual event for the industrial vision community.
In 2020, UKIVA was forced to postpone its conference and exhibition due to the
coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...
(COVID-19) pandemic, opting instead for a free to access virtual Technology Presentation Hub, which went live on 14 May 2020.
Due to ongoing travel restrictions, the Association ran a virtual event to replace the postponed live conference and exhibition on 15 July 2021.
After a two-year break from live events, UKIVA reinstated its 'in person' conference and exhibition on 28 April 2022 at the newly named Marshall Arena.
In May 2022, UKIVA announced that would co-host its 2023 conference and exhibition in conjunction with
BARA's first Automation UK exhibition, comprising a new two-day format at the
CBS Arena in
Coventry
Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
on 20-21 June 2023.
The Association confirmed it would return to the CBS Arena to hold its sixth live exhibition and conference event on 18-19 June 2024.
Vision in Action
In Spring 2012, UKIVA printed its first Vision in Action newsletter, which has since grown in size and readership to become the UK's only trade industrial magazine for the industrial vision community. The publication is free to subscribers and is produced biannually.
Chairman
In December 2024, Simon Hickman was elected chairman of UKIVA. Hickman succeeded Allan Anderson, who completed his two-year cycle in the chair.
About Automate UK
Automate UK (previously named the PPMA Group of Associations until 30 November 2023) is an unincorporated trading brand of PPMA Limited. It comprises the business activities of the UKIVA, PPMA and BARA, headquartered in Wallington, Surrey.
References
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1992 establishments in the United Kingdom