The May issue marks the first New Equipment Digest to mail in 42 years without Bob King’s name in the masthead—the first in 30 years published without him steering from the chief’s seat.
With his retirement, Bob closes a long and brilliant era of NED. He helped build this magazine to greatness, he helped carry it through the Internet disruption, and he landed it on solid footing in a new century. Now he has taken his well-deserved break.
The next era, it seems, is up to me.
I’m no stranger to New Equipment Digest. My work for IndustryWeekcovering 3-D printing, robotics, and manufacturing technology has appeared on these pages countless times over the last few years.
On the other end, I have always used NED—just as you do—to keep up with all of the latest gadgets, devices, and tools available in industry today. This has been my go-to source for all of the new developments in the market.
And that’s really the point of NED. This magazine has its finger right on the pulse of the industry. It’s my job to keep it there.
However, it’s also my job to shake things up.
As I see it, the rapid innovations experienced in manufacturing over the last few years have left the industry almost unrecognizable. The processes have changed, the capabilities have changed, the jobs have changed, and the equipment has changed right along with it.
Manufacturing has its energy back. It’s exciting. It’s cool.
I figure NED should be, too.
If you flip through the book today, you’ll find a few new tweaks to the design. It’s nothing major, just dusting off the templates, really. The products you’re here to browse remain unchanged and in strong form, but we’ve added new editorial coverage, some new layout concepts and a few other minor changes.
This is only the beginning.
Over the next few months, you will see a lot more of this both here and online at newequipment.com. We will be experimenting with new voices and new angles, testing new layouts and approaches as we realign ourselves toward a design that will both serve you better and also fit the current trajectory of industrial equipment.
If you like what you see, if we’ve missed the mark, or if you notice something we’re missing, I invite you to message me directly at [email protected].
My goal is to give you a compelling magazine that does exactly what you need it to do. I can’t do that without your input.
This is a big job and it’s going to be fun. And once we settle on the new form later this year, the new era of New Equipment Digest will finally begin. It’s going to be great.
-T.
Travis Hessman
Editor-in-Chief
New Equipment Digest