In a positive signal for Midwestern manufacturing, exhibitors hawking sophisticated production machinery at a massive McCormick Place trade show say they are attracting hordes of serious shoppers looking to streamline their factories.
Companies demonstrating advanced metal-cutting machines, robotic production tools and high-tech mold-makers at the International Manufacturing Technology show say they are racking up sales leads at levels far greater than at the last show in 2010.
Pat Simon, marketing manager for Mitsubishi EDM/Laser, whose products include precision cutting machinery for the auto and aerospace industries, among others, expects to garner 1,000 to 1,200 leads by the show’s conclusion Saturday, compared with 700 in 2010.
“That’s huge,” he said.
The surge in orders for jetliners this summer, the recovery in the auto industry and the aging population’s growing need for artificial hips and knees are among a raft of factors buoying manufacturing and in turn, lifting the city’s largest trade show to levels not seen since 2000.
The biennial show reported attendance of 95,760 as of Wednesday, a 16 percent increase over 2010.
The rise in so-called reshoring, or shifting of production from overseas to the U.S., is a factor as well, exhibitors say.
“If companies are going to come back here and manufacture, then they want to be the most productive they can be,” said Brian Papke, president of major exhibitor Mazak Corp., which sells machines that group multiple processes into one piece of equipment. In the show’s first three days it tallied almost as many sales leads as it did during the entire six-day show in 2010, he said.
Demand is more broadly based than expected, Papke said. “Oil, gas and energy are very active,” he said. “We have interest from aerospace, with the huge backlogs that are in place now for Boeing and Airbus.” There also continues to be interest from defense contractors, even with government cutbacks, and from medical equipment makers, he said.
Exhibitor MAG, for instance, announced a $36 million sale of titanium machining equipment to Aerospace Dynamics International Inc. for use on Airbus and Boeing jobs.
In other instances, companies that have held off on equipment purchases during the lean years were seriously shopping, though some were delaying decisions.
“We see a number of folks doing a lot of homework and then saying they will wait until after the November presidential election,” said Julie Murphy, marketing manager for Okuma, which makes machine tools used to manufacture everything from auto parts to artificial hips and knees.
Asked whether it was Democrats or Republicans who were waiting, she laughed. “I’m not having that conversation,” Murphy said.
Next year, manufacturers are expected to increase spending on metal-cutting equipment by more than 8 percent, according to Steven Kline Jr., director of market intelligence for trade publisher Gardner Business Media Inc.
Turning the leads into sales is critical for exhibitors, many of whom spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in some cases, millions, to exhibit at McCormick Place.
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Simon, of Mitsubishi EDM/Laser, is devoting 65 percent of his marketing budget, or $800,000, to exhibit at the show, not including hotel and entertainment costs for his staff.
It will be worth it, he said, if the company can turn 10 percent of 1,000 leads into sales. Their machines range in price from $100,000 to $500,000.
“Just from the foot traffic alone this year, I know it will be worthwhile,” Simon said. “I know we’ll have sales from it. We’ve given plenty of quotes.”
Twitter @kathy_bergen