IMTS 2012
The event used 1.248 million ft² (116,00 m²), featured 1909 exhibiting companies and hosted visitors from 119 countries. Industrial Automation North America, which debuted at IMTS 2012 as a co-located event, was Deutsche Messe’s first-ever industrial technology event in the US and featured a range of automation products and solutions, as well as conferences and educational training.
“Deutsche Messe as the organizer of Hannover Messe and AMT as the owner of IMTS combined have become a power- house,” said Peter Eelman, IMTS vice president, Exhibitions and Communications.
The show was a testament to advanced manufacturing techniques and the new innovations that are coming along with them, but it also highlighted some new horizons and challenges being faced industrywide.
It was difficult, for example, to ignore the impact and promise of Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes and the emphasis it received, especially in the Emerging Technology Center. AM—as some exhibitors, such as ExOne (Pittsburgh, PA) showed—can do things that conventional material removal processes can’t do and, rightly, is regarded as the wave of the future in precision manufacturing for a variety of large and small plastic and metal workpieces. With AM, internal passages and voids can be de- signed into workpieces built up layer by layer, simply through the magic of 3-D CAD models and produced without the necessity of CAM programming. Bending tools around corners isn’t really the forte of conventional machining processes. The technology emphasis, however, remained on traditional material removal processes, principally represented by chip- cutting technology, as well as the latest developments in lasers, waterjet, and even old standby EDM and plasma processes. In conventional material removal processes, spindles turn tools and/or workpieces and speeds and feeds determine how efficiently material can be removed with the aid of literally thousands of related tooling, workholding, and processing products. Heat, chips, and swarf must be removed to ensure a quality machined part, which is inspected by the latest noncontact laser and optical measurement devices. CAM programming derived from 3-D models maps out the most efficient toolpaths for optimum production.
The buzz at IMTS was highlighted with an incredible ar- ray of machine tool technologies, including five-axis machin- ing, multitasking with mill/turn machines, high-speed/high- torque machining, high-pressure coolant, and sophisticated CNC control.
The advance of robots headed the list of automating innovations that include tried and true bar feeders, gantry loaders, and flexible manufacturing systems. Wherever possible, savvy technology exhibitors provided opportunities for hands-on or visual experience of production solutions in action. Visitors were invited to view the ability of Collabora- tive Manufacturing to produce a car on-site, increase their cutting tool IQs at the Smart Shop, talk the talk of networked and connected shop devices through MT Connect, or, like the NIMS students in attendance, experience virtual welding with their own hands. Throughout the show, much attention was also focused on workforce shortages and what companies, industry groups and even technology was doing to address the growing prob- lem, which many view as a crisis.
Workforce Shortage In the Spotlight
From the NIMS Skills Center and its interaction with 9000 student visitors, to workforce conference sessions featuring government, organization and industry authorities, it was impossible to miss the attention focused on the issue. On the opening day of the show, SME revealed a national action plan, “Workforce Imperative: A Manufacturing Educa- tion Strategy.” The strategy calls for coordinated, standardized efforts aimed at preparing a skilled workforce for high-tech manufacturing jobs.
Indeed, IMTS revealed that various organizations are work- ing to correct misperceptions about manufacturing, tap the talent of military veterans, incentivize R&D, invest in commu- nity colleges and advanced manufacturing curricula, develop modular and portable skills certifications and launch fellow- ships and internships to give national recognition to manufac- turing careers.
Throughout the show, students were linked to hands-on experiences at companies’ booths, including DMG / Mori Seiki, Fanuc Robotics, Mazak, Sandvik Coromant, Seco Tools, Southwestern Industries, Lincoln Electric and 3D Systems. Seeing first-hand the innovations designed to inspire future careers was awe-inspiring even to those knowledgeable on the skills-gap issue: “manufacturing is not stuck in the ‘Laverne and Shirley’ days.”
For its part, Hyundai WIA (Carlstadt, NJ) held a press event at the show in which it donated its latest generation VMC, a F400 Value Master, to the Humboldt Park Vocational Education Center (HPVEC) of City Colleges of Chicago.
December 2012 |
ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com
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