IMTS Solid
I visited the biennial machine tool trade show, IMTS, for a couple of days last week. The "MT" in the acronym once stood for machine tool; it now stands for manufacturing technology. Whatever, there was a lot of big iron on the floor and the sweet smell of machine oil in the air. Oh, yes, the aisles were filled with visitors, too.
The show still covered the main floors of all three McCormick Place buildings. GE Fanuc sponsored an "Emerging Technologies" pavillion on the first floor of the South building by the main entrance. Showcased were various GE Fanuc technologies, Fanuc robotics, and a number of emerging technologies stands. Reuven Katz, chief engineer with the University of Michigan NSF Engineering Research Center for Reconfigurable Machining Systems was there. If you have never checked out the work being done there, go to http://www.erc.engin.umich.edu. The center also has some work in the controls area.
GE Fanuc had several new products, including an updated version of it's old series O CNCs. I chatted with people at the Mitsubishi booth. While there were no major announcements at this show, they told me to stay tuned for release of many things in the pipeline.
There was a lot of energy at this show. I hope this signals a resurgence in manufacturing here--and globally.
11:29:34 AM 
|
