It's the end of day two at IMTS 2016 and there are over 2,000 exhibitors showcased on the floor, scattered across multiple halls and buildings.
It's difficult to take in everything, but our impression of day two can be summarized by not only high technology, like robots serving show-goers ice-cream, but also the democratization of technology.
There once was a time when it took a graduate engineer to develop the kinds of solutions and innovations we're seeing booth-to-booth at IMTS. Now however, it seems we're at a point where someone with the skills of a tool and die maker or good machinist, can now make production ready quality parts and can inspect them too.
We've seen great examples of metrology, automation and more than anything else, the simplification of manufacturing technologies and processes to minimize the training requirements of staff and maximize ROI for OEMs and SMEs alike.
What we and many show goers are seeing at IMTS 2016, is that the future of advanced manufacturing may not only be for the degreed engineer.
Stay tuned with ENGINEERING.com for more information on IMTS 2016, coming soon.