According to trade show organizer Deutsche Messe, the recent September 8-13, 2014, runs of IMTS - The International Manufacturing Technology Show, Industrial Automation NORTH AMERICA and MDA NORTH AMERICA at McCormick Place in Chicago demonstrated that manufacturing is back in the United States. Collectively, the co-located events attracted more than 114,000 registrants from 112 countries and showcased 2,035 exhibiting companies on roughly 120,000 square meters of net exhibit space.
MDA NORTH AMERICA premiered at IMTS 2014 following the debut of Industrial Automation NORTH AMERICA at IMTS 2012. Both events sold out in February 2014, ultimately hosting 194 exhibiting companies from 14 countries on 4,650 square meters of display area. Germany, Italy and Taiwan contributed country pavilions and MDA hosted the IFPE Fluid Power Zone. The Global Automation Manufacturing Summit and the MDA Forum provided educational and networking opportunities for all IMTS visitors.
"Manufacturers across the U.S., Canada and Mexico continue to drive the reshoring trend, which mean they are actively investing in new technologies for their factories," said Wolfgang Pech, senior vice president at Deutsche Messe AG. "Now is the perfect time for us to introduce selected topics from HANNOVER MESSE to North America. Due to the success here of Industrial Automation and MDA, we expect to add further events to IMTS 2016."
Industry 4.0 was the lead theme at Industrial Automation NORTH AMERICA and MDA NORTH AMERICA, with numerous exhibitors showcasing products and services designed for adaptability, ergonomics, resource efficiency and customer and partner integration - the so-called Smart Factory. In the automation sector, Beckhoff Automation used Google Glass as an example of a wearable Human Machine Interface (HMI) for operating and monitoring machinery, while Molex presented "quick disconnect" connectors that enable the replacement of motors in production lines without disruptions. Rockwell Automation and Fanuc Corporation announced a global integrated manufacturing solutions partnership which will initially benefit the automotive industry, where machining-cell architectures for powertrain applications provide scalability, integrated safety, simplified configuration, and plant floor-enterprise integration.
