The Automator was replaced by pipes

If you searched for the Automator, you are using the 0.8 name. The 1.0 patch notes say Automators have been replaced with Automation Pipes, which pull items directly from storage and send them for auto-crafting or on to other storage.

Before 1.0 you unlocked an Automator at Milestone 9, connected it with a connector pipe, and put ingredients in the Automator's own storage. Automator II came at Milestone 12. After 1.0 you do not build that middle machine first. The pipe itself takes from storage, and the automation milestone moved up to Milestone 4.

What

The notes do not say that an Automation Pipe is simply the old Connector Pipe renamed. I describe it as the Automator's fetching job folded into Automation Pipes, while the Connector Pipe remains the piece that carries goods and water between buildings. Calling them one object would be a guess.

People moving a save often ask about mods in the same breath. The mech notes say mods are kept and you do not reset the save. That is a mech fact, not a pipe fact, but it belongs next to the migration because the two worries arrive together. Parts are granted to match your highest tier.