5 Aspects of PMTS I Appreciate

Registration is now open for the 2025 edition of the Precision Machining Technology Show (PMTS) held in Cleveland, Ohio, April 1-3, at the Huntington Convention Center. This 13^th edition of the biennial event, focused specifically on our precision machined parts industry, is presented by the Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA) in association with Gardner Business Media, parent company of Production Machining. It combines three days of exhibits, education and networking opportunities as we all come together in support of all that is precision machining.

I’ve attended multiple PMTS events over my two decades working for Gardner Business Media. I’ve also taken in many other industry trade shows both here in the States and abroad. Here are five aspects of PMTS I appreciate:

Technology. After all, this is what it’s all about. The word is in the show’s title for goodness’ sake. But unlike other trade events that tend to present what I feel can be an overly wide-sweeping array of disparate manufacturing technology, PMTS aligns more specifically to your company’s needs relative to producing terribly complex parts in medium to high volumes.

Location. Selfishly, for me, Cleveland is just a few hours’ drive from my hometown of Cincinnati. But, it’s centrally located such that it’s not that far away from a number of cities blessed with a wealth of machining and manufacturing businesses. In some cases, a visit to PMTS could be a day trip. But note that the show has drawn attendees from all over the country spanning the East Coast to California.

Size. Expected to feature more than 300 exhibitors, PMTS is properly sized for our industry. It’s a manageable show to navigate and see those exhibitors you’d hope to visit while possibly affording you to build in a good amount of roaming time to discover helpful new technologies or ideas that maybe you didn’t even think to consider for your shop. Strolling is strongly recommended. You never know what new product you might encounter. And, if you and your team can only break away from your shop for a day, you’ll still be able to see much of the technology offerings so long as you maintain a good pace.

Showfloor demonstrations. Live demonstrations offered by a various machine tool builders and other equipment providers in their booths are a hallmark of PMTS. The scheduled demonstrations enable you to see equipment in action and ask questions of the presenter and other experts available on the spot.

PMPA National Technical Conference. So, technically, PMPA’s National Technical Conference (NTC) isn’t an official part of the PMTS event. Running March 30 to April 1, it offers various educational, technology-based presentations on a range of precision-machining topics. Although the majority of the conference is open only to PMPA members, PMTS attendees who are not PMPA members can take in any of the sessions presented on the morning of Tuesday, April 1, for free (no foolin’). Led by those at the PMPA and other industry experts, these popular sessions offer a glimpse at what PMPA membership has to offer. Learn more about the NTC at pmpa.org.

Of course there are many other aspects of PMTS I appreciate, such as the co-located Parts Cleaning Workshop, Tech Talk Theater presentations and the like. So my advice is to visit pmts.com to learn more about the event and to register. I hope to see you there.