NEW FLOOR PLAN FOR IMTS 2020 REFLECTS MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY RENEWAL

May 9, 2019

The International Manufacturing Technology Show has unveiled a new floor plan for IMTS 2020 that dramatically increases the size of the Quality Assurance and Additive Manufacturing Pavilions by more than 10 and 40 percent, respectively. The plan also consolidates the EDM Pavilion into the Metal Cutting Pavilion, which has been renamed the Metal Removal Pavilion. IMTS 2020 runs from Sept. 14-19, will occupy all four buildings of Chicago’s McCormick Place and is poised to offer more than 1.42 million sq. ft. of exhibit space.

“The floor plan for IMTS 2020 reflects a renewal of the manufacturing industry, with growth powered by digitization, additive manufacturing, automation and software,” says Peter R. Eelman, Vice President & CXO at AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, which owns and produces IMTS. “Emerging technologies represented 38 percent of the exhibits at IMTS 2018, an incredible number considering less than 15% of IMTS exhibits just eight years ago were new technology based. That percentage doesn’t include new product introductions by exhibitors in the Metal Removal Pavilion, where connected and digitally-enhanced solutions emerged as the new norm.”

Additive Pavilion 40 Percent Larger

The Additive Manufacturing Pavilion will continue to occupy the space at the entrance to the West Building, as well as expand into the exhibition area on the west side of the hall, which has higher ceilings. This move allows exhibitors to feature larger and heavier systems, use double-deck booth designs and hang larger signs from the ceiling. The pavilion will occupy approximately 44,765 sq. ft. of floor space at IMTS 2020, which is 40 percent larger than at IMTS 2018 and triple the size of its debut at IMTS 2016.

Complementing this expansion, the West 375 Ballroom directly across the concourse from the pavilion will host the Additive Manufacturing Conference on Sept. 15 and 16. Presented by IMTS partner Gardner Business Media, this technical conference runs concurrently with IMTS during show years. It attracted more than 575 registrants at IMTS 2018, the most in conference history.

“Locating the conference and the pavilion in proximity to each other will boost traffic,” says Eelman. “At IMTS 2018, Additive Manufacturing technology providers demonstrated high-volume production capabilities and other solutions that appeal to mainstream industrial manufacturing, and this trend will grow even stronger at IMTS 2020.”

East Building Activity

The number of exhibitor booths in the Quality Assurance Pavilion, located in the East Building, grew from 90 to 144 in eight years. We anticipate an 11 percent expansion for a total of 128,975 sq. ft. at IMTS 2020

“The capabilities of quality assurance systems and software continues to expand as manufacturers seek to reduce waste and bring products to market faster,” says Eelman. “Rather than a discrete activity that ends a process, metrology equipment has become an essential component of closed-loop systems.”

AMT’s Emerging Technology Center demonstrated the benefits of physically and digitally connected systems with a robot arm that autonomously transferred a milled part from a CNC milling machine to a CMM. Using data from the CMM, the CNC compensated for tool wear by recalculating its offsets to maintain tolerances closer to the median of the specification.

HANNOVER FAIRS USA, produced alongside IMTS since 2012, will remain in the East Building. The number of companies exhibiting as part of HANNOVER FAIRS USA has grown from less than 100 to more than 500; they especially focus on automation, IIoT and digital-driven manufacturing technology.

“The excitement for manufacturing technology continues to build in 2019, especially with the U.S. adding 491,000 manufacturing jobs over the last two years,” notes Eelman. “We have already renewed almost 100 percent of exhibit space for IMTS 2020, and we are on track to challenge the records from last show.”