Advanced Manufacturing Expo - Cleveland

Have you ever looked for opportunities to place yourself in an environment where you could feel that you were surrounded by the best and brightest? A place where every conversation led to new thoughts and concepts that you had never explored before? Well I found a place like this during my recent trip to the Advance Manufacturing Expo.

The Advanced Design and Manufacturing Expo or ADM takes place in Cleveland Ohio and is a comprehensive event that showcases the latest technological advancements in robotics, automation, plastics, and design engineering. This year was the second year that the event has taken place and the first year that I was able to attend. It was about a five hour drive from Perception Engineering's Allendale office and a perfect opportunity to take advantage of some of the brightest companies coming together in one place.

With over 250 suppliers, 2,600 attendees and 30 hours of educational courses, there was more than enough going on at this event to keep busy for the two full days that I attended. There were multiple breakout sessions that an attendee could choose from in addition to specific training tracks. New to this year’s event was a specific focus on 3D Printing and Smart Manufacturing. The breakout sessions had different formats some of which were panel discussions with crowd interactions and others were more formal with limited time for Q&A. The sessions that I enjoyed the most were the panel discussions that allotted for plenty of opportunity to dive deep into the specified topics. All the sessions were specific and had presenters that were trained and built their business around the topics they were presenting. The sessions that I attended were:

1) Capitalizing on the Changing Dynamics of 3D Printing

2) Getting the Best ROI from Your Smart Manufacturing Systems

3) Applying Machine Learning in Smart Manufacturing a IIoT Applications

4) Augmented and Virtual Reality Applications for Product Design

5) Building the Future One Layer at a Time

6) Turing Big Data from Sensors and IIoT Networked Devices into Strategic Information

7) Best Practices for Predictive Maintenance in Manufacturing

8) New Collar Job Training for the Digital Age

9) How to Optimize Packaging Design to Increase Manufacturing Efficiency

After each session, I walked out with over a page of notes regarding tech and topics that I wanted to continue research on. This amount of data and access to industry experts alone would have made it worth the trip. However, in addition to the break-out sessions, there was an expo floor to walk between sessions. Many of the exhibitors throughout the expo were showing off direct hands and physical examples of the technology that was discussed and presented in the breakout sessions. Throughout the two days, I spent hours in detailed discussions specifically around the topics of the future of design, virtual reality, and 3D printing.

I will be on the lookout for future opportunities like this and will be encouraging the entire team at Perception Engineering to do the same. Always strive for learning and placing yourself among others who can help make you better at what you do.

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