Even if your business is going swimmingly, it might be time to reassess operations and identify potential areas for growth. In fact, chip-forming shops looking to expand their operations and add capabilities comprised a portion of the many visitors that checked out the technologies at the recent Fabtech International & AWS Welding Show.

It really should come as no surprise that expansion would be a topic of conversation at North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating and welding exhibition. The show keeps growing, both in numbers of exhibitors and visitors. Since its 2005 event, attendance has reportedly increased by 27 percent, according to event organizers. The annual event is cosponsored by American Welding Society (AWS), Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International (FMA) and Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and supported by industry partner the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). During November 11 to 14, 2007, nearly 31,000 visitors from more than 75 countries filed into the north and south halls of Chicago’s McCormick Place to explore 461,627 square feet of exhibitor space featuring more than 500 new products.

The respective attributes of the sophisticated technologies at the show were enough to lure many a visitor. However, I suspect that, for many shops, the promise those technologies represented was just as formidable a temptress. Exhibitors intuitively responded by providing strategies as varied as machine shops themselves to foster growth and efficiency. In addition to the prevalence of automation, several manufacturers with whom I spoke emphasized the symbiotic relationship between engineering and customers to arrive at application-specific solutions.

To view a sprinkling of the vast number of technologies that piqued our interest, click on the “slide show” link above in the Learn More box.