Business View Magazine | March 2020

42 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MARCH 2020 it’s very easy for us to get 90-plus percent efficiency on a horizontal mill. Some of them run very close to 100 percent efficiency,” says Volk. To put this achievement in context, 85 percent efficiency is considered world-class, and 60 percent is typical. To connect its equipment, one of the technologies that MetalQuest uses is called MTConnect, a free, open-source, cross-platform communication protocol that enables the company to connect any device within its enterprise systems. Discover and Act at IMTS To learn more about digital manufacturing technologies, there is no better resource than IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show, owned and produced by AMT. Called “the Super Bowl of manufacturing” by attendee Matt Guse, IMTS 2020 will be the greatest gathering of manufacturing technology and expertise in North America. “I just don’t know how you can afford to miss the show. Attending IMTS should be part of everybody’s business plan,” notes Guse, president of MRS Machining, a 47-person machine shop in August, Wis. He has attended every IMTS since 1996 because he feels there’s no substitute for evaluating suppliers in person and networking with peers. IMTS 2020 runs from Sept. 14 – 19 and occupies all four buildings of Chicago’s McCormick Place. It will cover more than 1.4 million net square feet of floor space and feature more than 2,400 exhibitors, an Emerging Technology Center, scores of educational conferences and technical sessions and a Smartforce Student Summit. IMTS organizes the show into nine pavilions that cover the breadth and depth of manufacturing technologies: Abrasive Machining/Sawing/ Finishing, Additive Manufacturing, Controls & CAD-CAM, Fabricating & Lasers, Gear Generation, Machine Components/Cleaning/Environmental, Metal Removal, Quality Assurance and Tooling & Workholding Systems. In addition, the show features IIoT examples that cut across all of these pavilions, encompassing everything from smart tooling to software to cyber security. “Visitors will find more digital solutions than they can imagine,” says Eelman. “Even if you’re coming to the show to look for a very specific technology, I can guarantee you will find much more than you intended.” For more information on IMTS 2020, visit www.IMTS.com. Contributors to this article include: Julie McGuire – Senior Manager, Content Development Monica Haley – Marketing Director, IMTS