BUILD YOUR AGENDA

Explore innovations in machining, additive, automation, digital solutions, quality and more.

See a live, end-to-end manufacturing system operating continuously on the show floor.

Your front-row seat to the people shaping the industry.

Have a particular manufacturing challenge? Have a seat and discover solutions.

This session explores the key benefits of automated grinding—such as tighter tolerances, reduced cycle times, and increased safety—while also addressing common challenges including high investment costs, integration complexity, and process variability. Drawing on extensive grinding and automation expertise, we’ll share practical best practices for process development, measurement, and risk reduction. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how to successfully implement automation to achieve reliable, repeatable, and efficient grinding performance.

The Accountability Problem

An AI-informed scheduling adjustment triggers a tool changeover that contributes to a quality escape. The defect reaches a customer. Who signs the CAPA—the algorithm, the operator who accepted the recommendation, or the plant manager who approved the system?

Until manufacturers can answer that question without hesitation, AI adoption on the factory floor will remain slowed by legitimate governance and compliance concerns.

Bounded AI: A Governance-First Design Approach

This session addresses the accountability challenge directly by introducing bounded AI—a design approach in which AI systems operate within explicitly defined authority, preserve full traceability, surface uncertainty, and support safe rollback. Rather than granting algorithms unchecked autonomy, bounded AI integrates decision support into existing operational workflows while maintaining clear lines of responsibility.

The discussion is grounded in real manufacturing environments: mixed-vintage equipment, established PLC logic, MES systems, regulated quality processes, and audit requirements. Through practical factory-floor scenarios, attendees will see how bounded AI integrates with existing governance structures such as change control, CAPA workflows, and audit trails—without disrupting throughput or safety.

What Attendees Will See

Specifically, the session demonstrates how to:

Define documented decision boundaries for AI recommendations
Surface system confidence levels to support informed operator judgment
Maintain continuous traceability of AI-influenced decisions
Implement structured rollback mechanisms to protect production stability
Extend existing change control processes to AI-driven adjustments

Operational Impact

When accountability is engineered intentionally, manufacturers reduce resistance to AI adoption, accelerate decision cycles, improve schedule responsiveness, and strengthen audit readiness. Plants can introduce AI-assisted scheduling, maintenance prioritization, and process optimization within 1–3 years—without controller replacement or forklift system upgrades.

Workforce Stability

Equally important, this session addresses workforce stability. AI systems that override human authority create distrust and compliance risk. AI systems that preserve operator judgment, document decision rationale, and clarify accountability elevate human roles instead of diminishing them. In bounded AI architectures, operators remain the accountable decision-makers—equipped with better information, not replaced by automation.

Key Takeaway

Attendees will leave with a practical governance framework for deploying AI in both regulated and non-regulated manufacturing environments—improving uptime, quality performance, and operational responsiveness without introducing accountability gaps or workforce disruption.

Educational Outcomes / Lessons Learned

Attendees will learn:

Why accountability ambiguity is a primary barrier to AI adoption in manufacturing
How to define and document AI decision boundaries
How to integrate explainability and traceability into existing quality systems
How rollback architecture reduces deployment risk
How bounded AI strengthens workforce trust and regulatory confidence

Get an in-depth understanding how automation systems can create the smart factory by leveraging ASRS for kit buffering, just-in-time sequencing, and visualization. While automation has typically been sought for production in work cells, now, automating the supply of parts, tools, or dies can help create a smart environment while contributing to the bottom line.

As manufacturers face increasing pressure to improve productivity, responsiveness, and lower production costs, the smart factory is no longer a concept—it’s a competitive necessity. Automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) play a critical role in enabling this transformation by connecting material flows, data, and automation into a single, intelligent intralogsitics backbone.

This session explores how modern ASRS solutions move beyond traditional storage to become an active real time component of the manufacturing process. By tightly integrating ASRS with production lines, warehouse management systems (WMS), and enterprise platforms, manufacturers can ensure just-in-time and just-in-sequence material delivery, reduce work-in-process inventory, and eliminate manual handling errors. Real time visualization software enables updates and tracking of these processes. The result is improved throughput, higher equipment utilization, and greater process reliability across the entire plant.

Attendees will gain insight into how ASRS supports smart factory initiatives such as real time visibility data-driven decision making. Hear about real-world use cases and see how manufacturers are leveraging automation to adapt to fluctuating demand and how to scale operations without disrupting production. This session will also address key considerations, including system modularity, software requirements, and future-proofing for evolving manufacturing requirements.

Explore innovations in machining, additive, automation, digital solutions, quality and more.

See a live, end-to-end manufacturing system operating continuously on the show floor.

Your front-row seat to the people shaping the industry.

Have a particular manufacturing challenge? Have a seat and discover solutions.

Insights into machining of medical parts utilizing the correct type of tools for the application. This includes proper live tool implementation and usage.

The next industrial revolution is already underway. Join Hexagon, AMT, and Fullerton College to explore how manufacturers are building the workforce and technology for what's next. Access tactics and unique data to architect a connected future - because the factory you build today has to be the factory that works tomorrow.

Four companies actually putting robots to work in production automation, robotic sheet metal forming, and AI-powered welding. Less about what's possible in a lab, more about what's running in real factories today: the integration headaches, the customer economics, and what it takes to scale from one cell to one hundred.

Nearly 62% of manufacturers remain stuck in "pilot purgatory" when trying to advance their Industry 4.0 initiatives. The root of the problem lies in their siloed data environment: manufacturing data is often trapped across incompatible systems of record, from rigid legacy ERP and MES systems to local spreadsheets and unstructured PDFs. This silo effect can limit a manufacturer's ability to respond to modern supply chain disruptions and operational demands.

Best in class manufacturers overcome these structural hurdles by shifting their data strategy from passive visibility to active orchestration. To do this, companies are safely deploying governed AI agents over a strong Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) foundation to ensure that all applications connect flawlessly to existing systems of record without disrupting core ERP stability.

Key Takeaways for Attendees:

Learn how to orchestrate fragmented data and modernize the "Connected Worker" experience without enduring a multi-year, high-risk "rip-and-replace" of your core systems.
Discover how to implement autonomous, "human-in-the-loop" AI agents to mitigate supply chain disruptions, bridge OT/IT gap with the i3X API, and capture the tribal knowledge of a retiring workforce.
Learn how pairing OutSystems' foundational MOM orchestration layer with Cognizant’s deep domain expertise in complex enterprise integrations can seamlessly bridge the IT/OT divide, and act as a critical differentiator to help drive your Industry 4.0 initiatives.

Explore innovations in machining, additive, automation, digital solutions, quality and more.

See a live, end-to-end manufacturing system operating continuously on the show floor.

Your front-row seat to the people shaping the industry.

Have a particular manufacturing challenge? Have a seat and discover solutions.

Lace up and run to fund STEM education.

New research from a 2026 survey reveals a pervasive but rarely discussed problem: the average manufacturer relies on 4.3 separate systems and vendors for storage, backup, and disaster recovery — yet 77% still lack a centrally managed file system. The result is rising operational overhead, inconsistent disaster recovery, slow file access across plants, and an infrastructure that can't support the AI and Industry 4.0 initiatives the business is counting on. In this session, Matthew Stech will unpack what the data says about the real cost of file infrastructure sprawl, share lessons from manufacturers who have consolidated from dozens of legacy storage devices to a single cloud-native platform — cutting file transfer times from hours to minutes, retiring 50+ devices, and reducing storage costs by up to 33% — and outline a practical framework for evaluating whether your multi-plant file infrastructure is ready for what comes next.
 

Precision machine shops want to deliver flawless parts on time, every time—but programming delays, machine failures, and a skilled workforce that's retiring faster than it can be replaced present constant challenges. Satisfying customers while navigating these headwinds requires a new kind of advantage. Discover how AWS and MachineMetrics are helping machine shops take control with industrial AI. Learn how AWS can help you connect machines for real-time visibility and predictive maintenance—catching spindle degradation, bearing wear, and anomalies with the help of AI before they become unplanned downtime. Hear how AWS partner MachineMetrics goes beyond machine monitoring to help operators, supervisors, planners, and CI leaders close the execution gap: the disconnect between the schedule ERP planned and what actually happens on the floor. Built on AWS, its manufacturing operations platform delivers the MES capabilities that turn real-time data, ERP records, and shop floor expertise into instant answers and informed action, all through AI agents built into the work. Walk away with a clear path to bring these capabilities to your own shop floor, without lengthy implementations. Machine builders can also learn how to develop smart connected machines with AWS that enable new monitoring, remote support, and outcome-based maintenance models for machine shop customers.

As geopolitical dynamics shift and supply chain resilience becomes a strategic priority, manufacturers are rethinking how critical components are produced, sustained, and delivered. Industrial additive manufacturing has reached an inflection point - maturing into a proven production technology that enables localized, on-demand manufacturing to strengthen resilience, support sustainment, and advance more sustainable production models.

This panel brings together a leading defense manufacturer and an industrial additive manufacturing technology provider to explore the opportunities and challenges shaping the next phase of adoption. The discussion will examine scaling production - including supplier capacity, capital investment, and equipment availability - as well as the role of collaboration between industry and government in expanding domestic manufacturing capability and strengthening the defense industrial base across aerospace, defense, energy, and other mission-critical sectors.

Joining the discussion are J. Hector Sandoval, Lockheed Martin Fellow, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, and Marie Niehaus-Langer, CEO of EOS GmbH. Together, they will share perspectives on how collaboration among manufacturers, suppliers, technology providers, and government can accelerate the adoption of advanced manufacturing and build a more resilient, agile, and sustainable industrial ecosystem.

If your automation plan stalls at the metrology step, this talk is for you. Machines have gotten faster. Automation has gotten smarter. But inspection is still slowing too many of us down.  Modern in‑process metrology—laser, vision, probing, and form measurement—can unlock the productivity your machines already have inside them.

We’ll demonstrate how laser measurement systems's dense measurement stream boosts process reliability.  How visualization software provides instant actionable data for operators and engineers.  And how precision probing standardizes setups in minutes.  Measuring and automation software can also hlep you run longer, with fewer stops, and higher confidence. 

With in‑process measurement, you can detect wear and breakage before it becomes scrap, correct offsets automatically, validate geometry inside the machine, achieve true “first‑part‑right”, and ultimately run longer without an operator standing next to the machine.  This isn’t a dream. It’s happening right now in factories that have digitized the measurement stage.  "Lights out" production is truely possible. 

Explore innovations in machining, additive, automation, digital solutions, quality and more.

See a live, end-to-end manufacturing system operating continuously on the show floor.

Your front-row seat to the people shaping the industry.

Have a particular manufacturing challenge? Have a seat and discover solutions.

Building on Wednesday's Smart Machining session, this presentation takes a deeper dive into what it actually looks like to put on-machine inspection to work -- from first deployment through measurable, sustained results.

CAPPS-NC has become the tool of choice for manufacturers who need more than theory. In this session, Chris Affer walks through real implementation experiences across aerospace, defense, and mold and die -- sharing the decisions made, the obstacles overcome, and the outcomes achieved by teams that have made on-machine inspection a core part of how they run their process.

Attendees will come away with a grounded understanding of what implementation really involves, including application overviews that map to common shop floor scenarios, KPI benchmarks that reflect what world-class manufacturers are actually achieving, and an honest look at the tools and workflows that drive those results.

Whether you're evaluating CAPPS-NC for the first time or looking to get more out of an existing deployment, this session offers the kind of practical detail that moves projects forward.

Explore the future of 3D metrology with Scanology. This session introduces our comprehensive suite of measurement solutions designed for the modern factory. From the flexibility of handheld scanners to the robust power of tracking-based systems, we show you how to tackle the toughest inspection and reverse engineering tasks. Whether you are dealing with intricate components or massive industrial assemblies, find out how Scanology’s hardware and software can help you capture high-fidelity data and streamline your manufacturing workflow.

Advanced manufacturing is no longer confined to the factory floor, it is shaping innovation in industries where performance, precision, speed, and talent define success. From aerospace and elite motorsports to music and workforce development, manufacturing technology is enabling organizations to solve complex challenges, accelerate innovation, and build stronger futures through collaboration with end-markets.

Join leaders from EOS, Limitless Labs, and Metallica's Foundation: All Within My Hands for a moderated conversation exploring how strategic partnerships are advancing additive manufacturing, AI, precision machining, and workforce development across diverse industries.

Binder Jet Metal Printing Technology (BJT) is maturing as one of the prominent sinter based additive manufacturing processes for mass production applications, which inherently demand high product quality and process economics. Building on established technologies such as metal injection molding (MIM), the inherent powder characteristics, debinding and sintering knowledge, facilitate the successful adoption of BJT during manufacturing of highly complex metal components in volume production. Similarly, the material portfolio available for MIM has been adapted for BJT, with modifications to the metal powder to enhance flow / packing characteristics which in turn improves the green density during printing. This presentation exhibits the status of BJT and its industrialization based on the experience of production of 200,000+ components in mass production. Critical customer requirements for fitment involve dimensional tolerance, sintered metallurgical and mechanical properties for the majority of applications in the industry. The presentation also discusses upon the advancement in the materials portfolio especially in producing wide range of stainless steels, Ni based super alloys and tool steels weighing on its metallurgical and mechanical properties.    

Explore innovations in machining, additive, automation, digital solutions, quality and more.

See a live, end-to-end manufacturing system operating continuously on the show floor.

Your front-row seat to the people shaping the industry.

Have a particular manufacturing challenge? Have a seat and discover solutions.

Kickstart your day with the IMTS Morning Show on the IMTS+ Main Stage! Hosted by the vibrant Marley Kayden, each episode features lively interviews with industry experts, main-stage keynote speakers, manufacturers, and social media influencers. Get the scoop on must-see events and key insights to make the most of your day at IMTS.

The Civil Reserve Manufacturing Network (CRMN) is a new initiative at the Department of War to broaden domestic manufacturing capability and capacity in the defense industrial base during wartime by providing companies incentives and other considerations during peacetime, as inspired by the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF).  This session will provide information on the DoW CRMN Implementation Plan, and more importantly, solicit feedback and ideas from the manufacturing community on what types of incentives would be attractive for such a program and what barriers exist for a company interested in participating.  The presentation will be followed by “office hours” where DoW representatives will be available to answer questions not covered during the session.

Five days, miles of show floor. By Friday, one question remains: of everything at IMTS 2026, what actually matters for your shop? The MakingChips hosts and guests break down the tech that mattered, debate what's next, and place their bets. We'll also announce who won the DN Solutions + Kennametal Machine Giveaway at the end.

Explore innovations in machining, additive, automation, digital solutions, quality and more.

See a live, end-to-end manufacturing system operating continuously on the show floor.

Your front-row seat to the people shaping the industry.

Have a particular manufacturing challenge? Have a seat and discover solutions.

Close out the day with IMTS Unwind on the IMTS+ Main Stage! Hosted by the vibrant Marley Kayden, each episode features lively interviews with industry experts, main-stage keynote speakers, manufacturers, and social media influencers. Get the scoop on must-see events for the next day and key insights to make the most of your IMTS.

Kickstart your day with the IMTS Morning Show on the IMTS+ Main Stage! Hosted by the vibrant Marley Kayden, each episode features lively interviews with industry experts, main-stage keynote speakers, manufacturers, and social media influencers. Get the scoop on must-see events and key insights to make the most of your day at IMTS.

Discover the ideas and innovations transforming manufacturing. This Main Stage session will feature industry experts sharing insights on emerging technologies, workforce trends, and the future of the industry.

Women aren’t waiting for an invitation to shape the future of manufacturing. This candid conversation brings together women from across the industry to talk about getting in, staying in, and stepping up — from the shop floor to leadership — and what needs to change to build the next generation of manufacturing.