IMTS 2014 Proved Manufacturing is Strong and Innovation Leads the Way

While exploring all four exhibit halls at Chicago’s McCormick Place during the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2014, all of the attendees, including me, could hear and feel the buzz of excitement that surrounded them. Multi-spindle machines to the right; multitasking machines to the left. Robots, cutting tools, inline quality assurance, additive manufacturing and so much more surrounded me. Where do I begin?

There may have been a beginning, but there wasn’t an end in sight. Even if I stayed the entire week at the show, I doubt I would have been able to delve into every product and process that covered those four busy halls. The show covered more than 1.282 million net square feet of exhibit space. It’s no wonder I walked about 6 miles on the first day of the show, and I never made it as far as the East Hall (the fourth hall). The second day, I walked about 5 miles. It was so easy to stroll through one hall and look down at the FitBit as I’m exiting, only to realize I had just put another mile on my Mary Jane’s.

The 30th edition of IMTS, held September 8-13, had a registration of 114,147, representing 112 countries, according to AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This was a 13.9 percent increase over the last IMTS, held in 2012. This year, the show hosted 2,035 exhibiting companies.

The show had a remarkable display of new and emerging technologies that will continue to influence the manufacturing world. Many exhibitors were successful in selling their products, as sold signs were displayed throughout the show.

Hydromat Director of Marketing Kevin Shults says, “We are ecstatic about the results we are seeing. We had a really good show in 2012, and this was even better. We sold a $1 million-plus twin-spindle machining center during the show and left with a large number of quality leads to carry us into 2015.”

The Smartforce Student Summit was back again this year, and its attendance doubled the number of students at IMTS 2012. The summit brought in 17,767 students, educators, administrators and parent chaperones.

For more information about IMTS 2014’s success, please visit imts.com. For coverage from the show, including articles about exhibitors and events, as well as products on display, visit the ShowDaily website. Go to the August and September online issues of PM for IMTS product descriptions.