ZEELAND – Organizers of the Advanced Manufacturing Expo will be holding this year’s event in metro Detroit (AME-East), as well as Grand Rapids (AME-West). In response to last year’s record attendance showcasing technology solutions to improve productivity and profitability, a new Hall of Metalworking has been added in Grand Rapids.
Sponsored by Creston Industrial Sales, the metalworking hall is a concentration of companies offering the latest advancements in cutting tools, coatings, work and tool holding, as well as metal working fluids and inventory management solutions. In addition to the more than 30 booths, there will be free seminars on new technologies in the metalworking industry. AME will be posting a list of topics and presenters on its website soon.
Both the AME-East and AME-West shows are open to the public with free admission.
“Visitors and vendors told us last year that they wanted a showcase of new technologies and personal networking opportunities for both sides of the state — so we responded to that need,” said Mark Ermatinger, show organizer and Vice President of Industrial Control in Zeeland, a founding sponsor of the event. “Executives, engineers and quality personnel also said they wanted to learn more about technologies that can improve their bottom lines.”
West Michigan has a remarkable number of machine builders and manufacturers that are on the cutting edge of applying the latest technologies, Ermatinger said, and Southeast Michigan is an undisputed manufacturing powerhouse. “It only made sense to hold the event in metro Detroit as well,” he added.
AME-East and AME-West were organized with convenience in mind for visitors and vendors alike, Ermatinger said. Exhibitors traveling from the Midwest have said that the shows are convenient and affordable since they only run one day each, instead of week-long trade shows. The Suburban Collection Showplace and DeltaPlex are close to major interstate highways for easy access and convenient on-site parking.
The AME-East expo is scheduled to run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 22 at the Suburban Collection Showplace, 46100 Grand River Ave. in Novi, MI. The show will feature 110 booths spread throughout 30,000 square feet of space for companies involved in additive manufacturing, machine vision, automation, quality control gaging, metalworking, and other technologies.
The AME-West expo is scheduled to run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 24 at the DeltaPlex Arena and Conference Center, 2500 Turner Ave. NW in Grand Rapids. The show will feature 170 booths spread across 43,000 square feet of space for companies involved in all aspects of advanced manufacturing methods.
The AME-West expo also will host a golf fundraiser for FIRST Robotics at The Meadows of Grand Valley State University from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 25. Last year’s event raised about $1,000 for the FIRST Robotics program.
The sneak preview and day-long AME-West event attracted more than 950 visitors and exhibitors last year, more than double the attendance in both categories compared with the first AME held in 2015 in Hudsonville.
For more information on the show, interested individuals can access the website at www.AdvancedManufacturingExpo.com or contact Ermatinger at [email protected] and (616) 836-5536.
