Chicago, Ill.— Billed as the largest industrial exhibition in the Americas, the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2000 on Sept. 6-13 is projected to be the biggest ever—filling all five levels at McCormick Place here. It's expected to draw more than 120,000 visitors to more than 1,400 exhibitors in more than 1.4 million ft² divided into eight traditional and two new product-focused pavilions.

Pavilion topics include: Abrasive machining/sawing/finishing (220 companies); Controls and CAD/CAM (105); Electrical discharge machinery (72); Gear generation (30); Lasers and laser systems (62); Machine components/ cleaning/environmental (160); Metal cutting (431); Metal forming and fabricating (153); Quality assurance (115); and Tooling and workholding systems (390).

IMTS 2000's Manufacturing Conference consists of more than 60 technical sessions, including 10 new half- and full-day sessions, and two keynote lunches, "Manufacturing for Customer-Driven Organizations" and "Small and Mid-Sized Manufacturers: Making E-Commerce a Reality."

IMTS 2000 will feature thousands of new products in its 10 pavilions. Some of the most innovative include:

• Designed for the sheet metal industry,Acu-Gage Systems' (AGS, Manchester, N.H.) linear motor drive-based inspection system is a 48 x 48 x 4-in. model reportedly more accurate and has more measuring capability than a scanner, allowing rapid first article inspections. www.acu-gage.com
  IMTS 2000 booths B-6064, D-4412
• Baldor Electric Co.'s (Fort Smith, Ark.) electric motor line includes ac and dc motors from 1/50 to 1,500 hp, such as its Super-E motors and Inverter Drive and Vector Drive motors for pumps, explosion-proof applications, and hostile environments. Baldor will also exhibit its Smart Motor, which integrates an ac inverter control into an ac motor, as well as its ac and dc linear motors and controls, and Mint motion control programming language and software. www.baldor.com
  IMTS 2000 booth D-4340
• Mastercam version 8 fromCNC Software Inc. (Tolland, Conn.) has many new features, including full toolpath/geometry associativity, enhanced surface and solid machining, and new high-speed machining motion. Full associativity simplifies programming and modification of milling operations. Linking geometry and toolpath allows automatic toolpath updates and drag-and-drop parameters. www.mastercam.com
  IMTS 2000 booth D-3019
• Newall Electronics Inc.'s (Columbus, O.) new line of digital encoders have 1-20 micron resolutions, and provide TTL-level output signals, which make them compatible with CNCs, PLCs, and other control systems. Operating at 10 kHz, the new line's Spherosyn and Microsyn categories have resolutions down to 1 micron, while the line's Magnasyn category can be mounted on a curved surface for angular readings up to 359°.
  To give OEMs and end-users customized solutions, Newall's encoder line is divided into three categories Spherosyn Digital, Microsyn Digital, and Magnasyn Digital. www.newall.co.uk
  IMTS 2000 booth D-4430
• Designed for high-speed, accurate machining applications, Axium CNC system from Num Corp. (Paris, France; Naperville, Ill.), part of Schneider Electric's Automation Strategic Business Segment, can control up to 16 axes divided into three groups or channels. www.num-usa.com
  IMTS 2000 booth D-4327
  For more information, Circle 245; call 800/322-IMTS (4687), 888/346-8925 or 313/271-1500, ext. 2103; or visit www.imts.org, www.imtsnet.org, www.sme.org/imts, or www.controleng.com.