big show: IMTS 2002, The

Manufacturing Engineering, Aug 2002

Put North America's premier manufacturing technology show on your calendar

From September 4-11, the halls of Chicago's McCormick Place will be crowded with the latest in manufacturing equipment. The 1,300,000 ft^sup 2^ (120,774 m^sup 2^) of exhibit space will be divided into nine pavilions, where products that fit the pavilion theme will be shown to visitors. IMTS is the largest industrial exhibition held in the Americas. The show occupies an area nearly equal to 24 football fields, and about 11.8 miles (19 km) of carpeting, some 10' (3-m) wide. The first IMTS was held in Cleveland, OH, in 1927, had 184 exhibitors, and attracted 12,000 attendees. In 2000, the show drew more than 100,000 visitors, occupied more than 1.4 million ft^sup 2^ (130,000 m^sup 2^), and presented products and services from 1354 exhibitors.

In this recession year, the show's exhibit space exceeds 1.3 million ftz (120,800 m^sup 2^), and exhibitors from some 40 nations will be present. Once again, more than 100,000 attendees are expected. To obtain maximum benefit from the time you spend at McCormick Place, be sure to plan your time in the halls. Allow time for serendipity and discovery, of course, but remember that IMTS is huge, and an unfocused visit can end in frustration.

Here are brief descriptions of the pavilions you'll find at IMTS 2002.

*About 150 companies will take part in the Abrasive Machining/Sawing/Finishing pavilion in the North Building (Hall B). In this pavilion attendees will find grinders of all sorts, sawing machines, honing and lapping equipment, and polishing machines.

*In the EDM pavilion in the Lakeside Center (East Building), Hall D, some 50 companies will present a variety of electrical discharge machinery and related equipment. Products and technologies on display will include CNC wire EDM, ram-type EDM, EDM filtration systems and supplies, disintegrators and die-sinking machines, and equipment designed to make EDM electrodes.

*Anyone involved in year manufacturing will want to visit the Gear Generation pavilion in the North Building (Hall B). There you'll find products from 25 companies that supply gear-production products such as hobbers, shapers, gear cutters, gear shavers, broaching equipment, gear-grinding equipment, and gear-measuring equipment.

*At the Machine Components/Cleaning/Environmental pavilion in the Lakeside Center (East Building), Hall D, attendees will see equipment, machine components, engineering services, environmental protection services, safety guards, mats, AGVs, robotics, and a host of other devices and systems. More than 140 companies will have products on display in this pavilion.

*Sprawling across more than 600,000 ft^sup 2^ (55,742 m^sup 2^), the Metal Cutting pavilion is occupied by over 230 exhibitors. It fills the entire South Building (Hall A) as well as part of the North Building (Hall C). In this pavilion, visitors can examine machining centers, CNC lathes, VTLs, turning centers, drilling machines, milling machines and centers, boring machines, transfer machines and broaching machines, skiving/trepanning machines and roller burnishing machines, gundrilling machines, jig-boring/milling machines, Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS), and other metalcutting equipment.

*The Metal Forming & Fabricating/Laser pavilion in the North Building (Hall B) will showcase presses of all kinds, with laser production systems and technology. Products from 161 companies will be shown, including straight-side and hydraulic presses, waterjet machining systems, tube and pipe benders, press brakes, roll formers, robotic welding equip ment, forming and fabricating systems, and laser systems for cutting, marking, scribing, trimming, drilling, and other applications.

*Products and services in the Quality Assurance pavilion in the Lakeside Center (East Building), Hall D, will include precision measurement machines, laser measuring machines, CMMs, gaging equipment and systems, tool condition monitoring equipment, measurement software, metrology, and vision systems. About 100 exhibitors will show their wares.

*The Tooling & Workholding Systems pavilion in Lakeside Center, Hall E, takes up more than 175,000 ft^sup 2^ (16,258 m^sup 2^) to show tooling solutions of every variety. More than 300 exhibitors will show coolants, cutting fluids, ceramic and composite cutting tools, tool coatings, chucks, milling cutters, end mills, fixturing systems, lapping tools, NC tables, plates, tool storage equipment, vises, workholding systems, and other equipment.

*On display in the Controls & CAD/CAM pavilion in the Lakeside Center, Hall D, you'll find products from 70 exhibitors of products such as CIM/CAD/CAM systems, CNC controls, automation management systems, communications systems, LANs, computers, manufacturing software of all sorts, and systems integration services.

In addition, the IMTS 2002 Manufacturing Conference, sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) in cooperation with AMT-The Association for Manufacturing Technology, offers more than 60 sessions focusing on key manufacturing practices. The conference will present a lineup of industry experts who will offer practical, upto-date educational insight and advice. Technology forums and key sessions make it easy for attendees to interact with exhibitors.