Highlights from IMTS 2018
People and technology were the high points of an overwhelming, but productive and educational trade show.
Doug Woods, President of AMT- The Association for Manufacturing Technology, opened IMTS 2018 with a ribbon cutting and presentation on the main stage. He promised attendees would be able to see the best, latest and greatest manufacturing technology, and that they would be able to take it home and leverage it within their own companies.
I was able to meet with some of the student employees and advisers of Cardinal Manufacturing at the show. Cardinal Manufacturing is a student-run machine shop that is helping to fill the skills gap in its area by teaching students the technical and soft skills needed for a career in manufacturing and giving them real-world experience.
Seco Tools highlighted several products and services at its booth, including a machine monitoring solution resulting from the company’s partnership with MachineMetrics. Marketing Director Larry Lefkof says if users are having difficulties getting new machine tools, machine monitoring can help them use their old machines more effectively.
This Grindstar machine with a bar feeder from Junker produces precision parts with a grinding wheel. A specially designed wheel plunge-cut grinds parts into shape and then parts them off.
In addition to unveiling a custom motorcycle designed by Orange County Choppers in celebration of its 40th anniversary, Hydromat was showcasing its 12-station Eclipse 12-100 rotary transfer machine. The part seen here was produced on the machine in 15 seconds, according to the company.
Mikron Tools was displaying a range of tools for micromachining, as well as this CrazyDrill Cool. At 40×D, the through-coolant drill is designed to produce deep holes in a single step.
ANCA expanded its product line by introducing the CPX Linear for grinding tool blanks. The machine uses pinch-peel grinding to quickly produce high-precision blanks and can be automated with an ANCA AR 300 robot.
The HVR100-FLIP inspection system from Starrett uses a video camera to inspect parts. It automatically detects and recognizes parts, pulling up the correct inspection program to reduce inspection times.
The Okuma 25P 2500H has two front-facing spindles like the one seen here. This configuration gives room for the gantry loader to enter the machine and load/unload workpieces.
Kennametal’s booth featured its anti-vibration boring bars. This system has a “plug-and-play” self-tuning mass damper along with an array of bolt-on heads to reduce chatter in a range of operations.
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As you certainly already know, IMTS 2018 took place last week in Chicago. This was my first time attending the show, so I have been getting a lot of questions about my experience and my impressions. If I had to sum it up in one word, I would say it has been overwhelming. The physical footprint of the show, the size of the crowds, and the range and caliber of technology were unlike anything I have ever seen, so it was a lot to take in.
If I had to choose a favorite part about the show, I would say it was the people. I was able to meet many readers, representatives from companies and subjects of articles I have written. It is unusual to have so many people from this industry in the same place at the same time, so getting to experience that was really great.
That said, I also saw a lot of really cool technology. IMTS has booths for anything a manufacturer could want or need, and I tried to see a little of everything. Scroll through the photos and captions above for some highlights from the show, and stay tuned as the Production Machining team works to bring you more information on what we saw over the coming months.
