This is only the second year for the virtual trade show, Tech ManufactureXPO 
and attendance greatly surpassed last year, proving that it was well appreciated by the attendees and the industry. The speakers were excellent and provided a diverse set of topics concerning automated manufacturing.
The Keynote speaker was Jack McDougle who is a senior vice president with the Council on Competitiveness, a Washington, D.C. based think tank whose objective it is to promote competitiveness in manufacturing. His discussion revolved around the Council's latest report entitled MAKE: An American Manufacturing Movement, which is a detailed strategy for a “manufacturing renaissance in America”. He also talked about present conditions in manufacturing, the need for a robust manufacturing sector in a healthy economy and portrayed the manufacturing sector as a leader in innovation and job creation.
The second presentation was by Richard Vaughn of the Rexroth Bosch Group, called: Easy Handling of Mechatronics/Robotics Solutions, who spoke about "Right Sizing" your Mechatronics solution to achieve the best quality system and product with the least expenditure, specifically concentrating on differences in Cartesian and gantry solutions.
Next Dan McKiernan, President of Elite Engineering explained how their eFlex Assembly could help modernize existing manufacturing systems, transforming them into more agile and leaner assembly systems.
After this was a demonstration of non-contact technology by Brock LaHart of FARO, where he showed the attendees how to perform a CAD-to-part alignment when physically handling the part was difficult or impossible, then how to compare this data. Mr Lahart's demonstration was quite technical and highlighted the scope of information that can be covered in virtual trade shows.
Of course while all this was going on in the auditorium, the networking lounge was available for general discussion. Attendees could also peruse the exhibit halls visiting the virtual booths of the sponsors which included Robotiq. At the Robotiq booth you could view videos of the 2-Finger and 3-Finger Adaptive Gripper in action. Guy Roberts, J.P. Jobin and CEO Samuel Bouchard were available to respond to questions or explain details about the Grippers. This makes the virtual trade show a great way to interact with fellow industry representatives.
So are you sorry you missed it! Well actually the great part about the virtual trade show, Tech ManufatureXPO, is that you can still visit, though it is not quite the same without the live attendees, but still lots of information will remain available until May 2, 2013.
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