Based on research following IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show 2014, Show Management reports very strong results and long term benefit for the manufacturing technology industry. The 30th edition of the Show was the fourth largest IMTS in history and the largest six-day Show ever with registration of 114,147 representing 112 countries. This was a 13.9 percent increase over IMTS 2012. IMTS covered more than 1,282,914 million net square feet of exhibit space and hosted 2,035 exhibiting companies.
A full 93 percent of visitors reported that they found new products and ideas to use at IMTS.
An estimated $2.7 billion in future sales will result from the Show. Half of the visitors planned on making a purchase in the six months following IMTS and 85 percent said they planned to make a purchase before IMTS 2016.
When asked why they visit IMTS, 71 percent of visitors said to see new products while 74 percent said to see specific exhibits and 57 percent went to see the varieties of technology. Another 86 percent said they found solutions to specific manufacturing problems they came to solve and 64 percent of visitors reported making new business contacts during their Show visit
“IMTS 2014 was a highly successful place to conduct business for both visitors and exhibitors,” said Peter Eelman, AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology Vice President – Exhibitions and Communications. “We have historically found that for many companies the leads they gain at IMTS fill their pipeline for the two year Show cycle. These very strong projected future sales resulting from the Show are a solid indicator of the importance of manufacturing in the world economy. Our findings track with other industry research resources who are citing significant growth in automotive, aerospace, medical, and gas and oil which bodes well for manufacturing technology and related sales leading up to IMTS 2016.”
The industry groups represented ranged from metalworking machinery and equipment to job/tool/mold and die shops, plus all categories of durable goods manufacturing.
The make-up of IMTS visitors included corporate management (25 percent), manufacturing/production management (16 percent), manufacturing/production engineering (13 percent) and manufacturing/production engineering management (8 percent). The reported plant size for visitors by number of employees ranged widely with 23 percent having less than 20, 19 percent with 20 to 49, 14 percent with 50 to 99, 27 percent with 100 to 499, 7 percent with 500 to 999, and 10 percent with 1,000 or more.
“IMTS was certainly a showcase for exciting emerging technologies like 3D printing, but we also saw that the product categories of great interest continue to be machining centers, turning centers and lathes, and tools and tooling,” Eelman said. Interest in IMTS and the technology showcased there has continued unabated since the Show concluded. The 3D printed “Strati” car created in the Emerging Technology Center was even featured on NBC’s Today Show in October. Looking ahead, IMTS 2016 advance space reservations are on track to exceed 2014 exhibit space,” Eelman concluded.
