The fourth edition of the competition dedicated to the best young talents for tomorrow's manufacturing industry will take place on May 11th and 12th in Lainate (MI).
The most anticipated event in the world of Italian technical schools is back: the FANUC Olympics , now in its fourth edition, will take place on May 11 and 12, 2026, at the FANUC Italia headquarters in Lainate (MI). Forty schools will participate : 23 in the Industrial Robotics Competition and 17 in the CNC Programming Competition, for a total of over 80 students ready to challenge each other in highly technical practical and theoretical tests.
From desks to robotic cells: the challenge is real
Programming an industrial robot or a CNC machine is no longer just a textbook subject. At the FANUC Olympics, students from Italian technical and vocational schools compete directly on technologies identical to those used every day in the country's most advanced factories. Teams, each composed of two students accompanied by a designated instructor, will compete on FANUC ER-4iA robotic cells and ROBOGUIDE simulation software for the robotics competition; participants in the CNC competition will work on CNC Simulator and CNC Guide, developing programs in ISO language for 3-axis milling.
“Every year we see kids arriving with increasingly solid skills, and this tells us that the synergy between school and industry is working,” said Mirko Cazzaniga, Education Business Developer at FANUC Italia . “When a seventeen-year-old can program an industrial robot with the same precision as a factory technician, it's clear that something in the way schools are taught is truly changing. And it's a change that benefits the entire Italian industrial system.”
A national showcase that opens its doors to Europe
The FANUC Olympics aren't just a competition: they're a springboard. The top teams in the Robotics Competition will have the opportunity to participate in the WorldSkills Piemonte regional competitions in the fall of 2026, which will qualify for the EuroSkills Düsseldorf 2027 European Robotics Championships. This journey takes young Italian talent from the school lab to the European stage.
At the end of the two days of competition, the top three schools in each competition will be awarded prizes. All participants will receive a certificate of participation.
40 schools from all over Italy, one passion
The competing schools hail from 11 Italian regions, from Sicily to Friuli-Venezia Giulia, from Calabria to Piedmont, demonstrating how the passion for robotics and numerical control knows no geographical boundaries. Technical and vocational schools, ITS Academies, and vocational training centers will be joined together, united by a training program based on the FANUC-Sanoma educational laboratories, already present in hundreds of Italian schools.
The event was sponsored by: Sanoma, CIM 4.0, CIAC, ITS Lombardia Meccatronica Academy, Ingegneria Italia, Assolombarda, WorldSkills Italy, Politecnico di Milano, Salesiani CNOS-FAP ETS, SIRI, MADE Competence Center i4.0, Fondazione UCIMU, ASLAM, Mobilita ITS Academy, CIOFS Professional School and Free University of Bolzano.
The FANUC Olympics are a FANUC Italy initiative within the FANUC Education program, and a fun educational competition that helps train the technicians of the future, celebrating the talent and passion of Italian students.
About FANUC
FANUC Corporation is a leading global manufacturer of factory automation systems, including CNC systems, robots, machine tools, and presses (ROBODRILL, ROBOCUT, and ROBOSHOT). Since its founding in 1956, FANUC has been at the forefront of developing numerical control units for machine automation. With a global presence, 270 subsidiaries in 100 countries and over 9,000 employees, FANUC offers its customers an efficient and widespread system of sales, technical support, research and development, logistics, and customer service.
Digital monitoring improves motor reliability in a cement manufacturing plant
WEG and Nuova Ites implement WEGSCAN solution to improve efficiency Nuova Ites Srl, a leading European company specializing in the repair and overhaul of rotating electrical machinery, recently partnered with industrial equipment manufacturer WEG to improve operational monitoring of one of the key industrial motors at a cement plant. As part of its ongoing commitment to reliability and performance, Nuova Ites installed the WEGSCAN electric motor monitoring system, a cutting-edge solution developed by WEG to monitor motor performance and identify potential issues before they impact operations. Nuova Ites, a specialist in the repair and overhaul of rotating electrical machinery across Europe, with over 800 wind turbines fully serviced in collaboration with leading operators such as Vestas, Enel, and ERG Renew, identified the need for continuous motor monitoring in a high-load application. In this case, a 132 kW, 2-pole WEG special series motor was coupled to an Atlas Copco compressor, forming a critical component of the customer's production process. Performance and reliability in this mixed-equipment configuration were crucial, but visibility into the motor's condition was limited. To address this issue, WEG supplied and installed a complete monitoring solution consisting of the Cassia X2000 Gateway and the WEGSCAN 100 unit. Following a WEG technical visit to the Nuova Ites workshop in late 2025, the equipment was ordered and delivered in early January 2026. The system was configured on-site to meet the specific application requirements and integrated into the monitoring processes of both Nuova Ites and the cement plant. The WEGSCAN system is designed to support real-time monitoring of multiple operating parameters, including vibration signatures, temperature trends, and other mechanical and electrical health indicators. Its dual-access capability allows engineers to view data from a standard PC interface or smartphone, facilitating remote condition monitoring and immediate performance visibility. Supporting the monitoring infrastructure is the Cassia X2000 Gateway, which serves as the system's communications hub. The gateway enables reliable wireless connectivity between the WEGSCAN device and the wider network, ensuring that operating data from the engine can be transmitted and accessed in real time. Designed for demanding conditions, the gateway operates over a wide temperature range of −40 to 65°C, ensuring stable communication between sensors and monitoring systems in harsh operating environments. By acquiring continuous operational data, Nuova Ites is now able to identify early signs of abnormal behavior and proactively plan maintenance, helping to reduce unplanned downtime, optimize service interventions, and improve overall energy efficiency. This level of insight is particularly valuable in environments where the costs of downtime and reactive repairs are high. "For Nuova Ites, the monitoring system has become an essential tool in its service portfolio, helping to integrate condition-based maintenance into the standard workflow and offering customers greater reliability and full lifecycle support," said Fabrizio Arosio, Head of Drive and Automation Systems at WEG Italia. “With the ability to more closely monitor critical engines, the company is better equipped to anticipate problems, optimize maintenance planning, and provide data-driven insights that add measurable value to asset performance and business continuity.” Digital monitoring technologies like WEGSCAN also help make industrial operations more sustainable. By providing continuous information on engine performance under real-world operating conditions, operators can keep equipment closer to its optimum efficiency point. In energy-intensive industries like cement production, improving the efficiency and lifespan of critical rotating equipment plays an important role in reducing overall resource consumption and supporting more sustainable plant operations.
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