Chicago, IL - The 75th anniversary edition of the biennial International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) maintained its prior level of about 1,300 exhibitors in 1.3 million ft² of space during its eight day run, Sept. 4-11, at McCormick Place, despite a close to 26% decline in attendance from two years ago. IMTS 2002 had 85,030 visitors, including 67,350 pre-registrants and 17,680 on-site registrants. Two years ago it had 114,674 attendees and 1,357 exhibitors in 1.4 million ft² of space.

Nonetheless, IMTS 2002's exhibitors from the U.S. and 40 other countries occupied all three of McCormick Place's halls. The event's manufacturing Conference also included more than 60 technical sessions.

To help boost production equipment utilization and reduce machine downtime, GE Fanuc Automation (Charlottesville, VA) exhibited its new Cimplicity i Cell, which is a Windows-based, supervisory software package that manages multiple CNC machine tools from a central location. It supports operations, such as parts machining, data collection, remote diagnostics and state-change monitoring, as well as enabling quick recovery in the event of a failure, which can increase machining productivity by reducing downtime and optimizing equipment performance.

Bosch Rexroth Corp. (Hoffman Estates, IL) announced Sept. 4 that it is forming a new Service Automation division to unite customer service and training activities for all of Bosch Rexroth's factory automation technologies. The division, Bosch Rexroth Service Automation, will unify U.S.-based field service and training for end-users and OEM customers in factory automation.

Manufacturing Data Systems Inc. (MDSI, Ann Arbor, MI) and its OEM partners demonstrated machine tools and controls with MDSI's OpenCNC software. To help users increase productivity, reduce operating and capital expenditures, and increase product and process quality, MDSI introduced three new machine tools or retrofit controls standardized with MDSI's OpenCNC control software.

For more information, visit www.imtsnet.org