Since 1759, when Josiah Wedgwood set up his factory in what has become known as the Potteries area in Stoke on Trent, the Wedgwood name has become a byword for the design, manufacture and marketing of fine china that is affordable in the mass market. In 1968 the company started a progressive, on-going, program of automation. Investment has consistently been made in technology that is moving operations out of the craft environment and into a world of "engineered" products.

At its Barlaston plant Wedgwood currently automates a large proportion of the processes involved in the production of both flatware and cups. The company has chosen a number of Mitsubishi Electric products including PLCs, HMIs and monitoring software which are put to use in kiln control and dust presses used to manufacture high volume flatware such as plates and saucers.