IMTS 2018: Shattering records on the Chicago shoreline

PICK A METRIC, any metric, and the 2018 International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS 2018) topped them all.

Exhibitors? 2,563, up 6.5% from 2016’s record number.

Floor space filled with equipment? 1.42 million square feet, up nearly 8,400ft2 from 2000’s record.

Students attending to see the latest technology and possibly impress an employer? 23,000, up 35% from 2016’s record.

Crowd size? At 129,415 visitors, 2018 blasted past the 121,764-person record set in 1998 when Bill Clinton was halfway through his second term in the White House, the biggest technology story was the coming Y2K bug, and telecommunications providers were still a year away from adding the Internet to mobile phones. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0 weren’t major show themes that year.

Connectivity technologies were on display in nearly every booth at McCormick Place in September as cutting tool providers, machine tool makers, workholding providers, metrology companies, and software providers pitched technologies to track and control manufacturing, removing waste and cost from processes.

“Connectivity, the digital transformation of manufacturing, automation, additive manufacturing, and a strong economy drove record numbers at IMTS 2018,” says Peter R. Eelman, vice president of Exhibitions and Business Development at AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, the organization that owns and produces IMTS. “Digitization collided with a robust manufacturing industry to create our most dynamic show ever.”

Though not a scientific measure of success, many exhibitors reported record crowds at their booths, saying they gathered more sales leads and more interest in near-term equipment sales than at previous shows.

Need an even less empirical gage on demand for information on manufacturing technology? Every morning of the show, security guards had to prevent people from entering the South Hall early.