North America’s largest manufacturing event opens for registration
IMTS is said to be the largest manufacturing event in North America (Courtesy IMTS)
The Association For Manufacturing Technology’s International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2018 will take place at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois, USA, September 10–15, 2018. IMTS is said to be the largest manufacturing event in North America, and features the latest technologies and solutions across ten pavilions featuring: Additive Manufacturing, abrasive machining / sawing / finishing, controls & CAD-CAM, EDM, fabricating / laser, gear generation, machine components / cleaning / environmental, metal cutting, quality assurance and tooling & work holding systems.
The last event, IMTS 2016, saw 115,600 visitor registrations and 2,400 exhibitor companies. According to the organisers, IMTS 2018 is on track to exceed these figures, and is working with McCormick Place to expand the available exhibit space. Peter R Eelman, Vice President – Exhibitions & Business Development at AMT, stated, “With the US manufacturing sector expanding at its fastest pace since 2004 and capital equipment investment likely to follow, we anticipate that IMTS 2018 will be one of the busiest shows ever.”
Ten years ago, IMTS formed a partnership with Hannover Messe USA to enhance the range of technology and manufacturing solutions on show at IMTS. This year, Hannover Messe USA and its four co-located shows (Integrated Automated, Motion & Drives USA, Surface Technology USA, ComVac USA and Industrial Supply USA) will reportedly cover the largest floorspace to date, as well as featuring a digital factory display for the first time.
During the IMTS, the AMT’s Emerging Technology Center (ETC) will aim to educate, inform and excite the manufacturing community about innovations specific to the digital factory. In addition, due to the rapid growth of AM technologies, a second AM-dedicated ETC will be included as part of the Additive Manufacturing Pavilion. Modern Machine Shop’s (MMS) Top Shops and Today’s Technology Center (TTC) will also create an emerging and top technology centre.
