FANUC Invests $18 Million in Largest U.S. Corporate Automation Training Center

FANUC America opened an $18 million robotics and industrial automation training center in Auburn Hills, Michigan, on October 19, 2026. The facility is the largest corporate training center of its kind in the United States and significantly expands training capacity to help address a shortage of skilled automation workers.

The investment targets a practical constraint on manufacturers’ automation plans: having enough people with the skills to put automated equipment to work. By expanding access to training, the center could help manufacturers develop the workforce needed to support their automation transitions.

The most immediate potential benefit is greater capacity for skills development. If that training translates into capabilities needed on the factory floor, it could also support equipment deployment, day-to-day operation and maintenance. Those effects would depend on how closely the training matches manufacturers’ needs and how effectively participants apply what they learn.

The scale of the investment signals that workforce development is an important part of FANUC America’s support for manufacturing automation. However, expanded training capacity alone does not establish that the labor shortage will ease. Enrollment, training completion and the application of skills in manufacturing workplaces will be useful measures of whether the center delivers on its purpose.