Manufacturing at "Fabtech 2009"

As you may be aware, the 2009 Fabtech International & AWS Welding Show is going on today... and tomorrow, and yesterday, and wednesday even. It's out in Chicago, IL and is just PACKED with information on different companies in the industry. I, for one, am very disappointed that I couldn't be attending this year but hopefully next time. We had a little bit of late notice to get out to chicago today so I'm bummed, but it's okay. I've been talking to a lot of the companies there and it sounds like the crowd is just having a ball.

I wanted to do a little tidbit about some of the companies exhibiting at the Fabtech show this year, because it's so interesting to see all the different vendors and different applications for all these new and innovative products.

I'll start with Igus, specializing in bearings, cable carriers, cables and more - they're at booth #7046 and have some of their newest products out there to showcase. Check out their press release for more information about their company here.

Next, I have to mention Lincoln Electric (booth #34132). A great brand here from Cleveland, Ohio... they are the world's leading manufacturer for welding products, equipment, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment. With a strong presence at the Fabtech show this year, they've told me that they're seeing some good traffic this morning but expect that it's going to get much busier as the day goes on. Check out a picture that they posted on Twitpic of the m&m's car. Their Virtex 360 can be found at booth #36043 and chirp that they have the best virtual reality welders at the show... but you can be the judge of that.

And how about Miller Welders. They've had a great set up so far and even launched some videos and pictures of the show which I took the liberty to comment on. You'll have to check that out. Of course, I should mention that they're at booth #34071.

Mayfran is at booth #16084 this week with their new shuffle drive system (see twitpic here). They focus on providing engineering solutions for metalworking, waste processing, recycling, and others for numerous industries. Definitely worth checking out if you fall into the machining or job shop category... as being eco-friendly is just as important as being customer-friendly these days.

New to me, is the company Hypertherm, who is putting on a lecture today featuring one of their own, Jim Colt. He's focusing on the difference between plasma, waterjet and laser cutting. I would love to sit in on this one! If you're at the show, catch this seminar at 10:30 this morning, level 4, Room S-403.

What would the show be without Trumpf and their laser products? They've even brought in their TruLaser 1030 to the Fabtech show this year, to feature it's manual pullout which has the crowd talking. Check out booth #6001 or #6013 for their displays.

A native to the land, Hill Engineering is coming into the show from Carol Stream, Illinois. Specializing in roll forming, stamping die, tooling solutions, rotary punching, etc... they will be there at booth #7022. See their latest article in Metal Forming Magazine for some more information on their company.

Perhaps we'll hear more from the show as the day goes on, and more will be added to this list. If you're on twitter and want some play-by-play feedback... look for @FabtechExpo for the latest action. You can follow me on twitter while you're at it, by following @Fedtechinc and I'll be keeping up on the show as the day progresses as well.

As always, it's been a pleasure! If you make it to the show, keep me updated on how it goes! Hope this post helped nonetheless. Take care!

Sarah