A number of AMTIL member companies were in Chicago in September for IMTS 2018, the International Machine Tool Show, one of the largest machine tool and manufacturing technology exhibitions in the world.

AMTIL regularly sends a delegation to the major overseas exhibitions and this year it was IMTS in the USA. AMTIL had a booth within the International Associations area of the show, alongside manufacturing assocations from countries all over the world. As well as enabling us to provide information and advice about manufacturing in Australia to anyone who came by the stand, it offered the opportunity to network and interact with those other associations, sharing insights about the state of the industry and exploring opportunities to collaborate.

Moreover, having a fixed presence on the exhibition floor meant we were able to support any Australians who were visiting the show, offering a port of call where they could drop by for a chat and a coffee – our team were pleased to bump into a fair few familiar faces from back home during the week of the show.

Australian companies were also making their presence felt in the exhibition, with the ANCA Group, Techni Waterjet and John Hart all having prominent stands.

Agile Robotic Systems, part of the John Hart Group, enjoyed the global release of their AgileFlex robotic loading system at IMTS. Designed and manufactured in Melbourne, the AgileFlex has the key benefits of being compact, easy to use, flexible and affordable. Getting parts quickly to and from the CNC machine tool is a major step towards maximum productivity for small and large CNC machine shops and so the AgileFlex is another great example of a leading Australian company designing and exporting a world  class technology to the global market.

“We are really excited to be showcasing our world class capabilities at IMTS 2018,” says Nicholas Rehfisch, Managing Director of the John Hart Group. “The AgileFlex is the next step in pre engineered machine loading technology”.

The ANCA Group had two stands at IMTS this year (for ANCA CNC Machines and ANCA Motion). On the ANCA CNC stand they launched the CPX Linear, a blank preparation grinder that utilises a magnetised tubular linear motor for precision control and minimal backlash. This new technology for manufacturing tool blanks secures ANCA’s position as one of the world’s leading suppliers of CNC grinding machines.

ANCA Group CEO Christopher Hegarty says: “Our company is committed to advancing technology and the CPX Linear is another example of this. Our team dedicates itself to designing leading edge solutions so that the industry can continue to evolve.”

IMTS is owned and managed by the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and they were very pleased to report that the show exceeded their expectations with over 120,000 registered visitors from 117 countries. Now that truly is an “International” Manufacturing Technology Show. I’d like to congratulate AMT on their success in organising such a spectacular event, yet again.