While the number of machining operations on display at IMTS is nearly as varied as the people in attendance, they all have one thing in common: chips. Whether it takes the form of chips, dust, or powder, and whether it’s dry or carried by coolant, every shop has to contend with the material left after the part is made. Fortunately, visitors to IMTS 2026 will find many automation solutions that can reduce downtime, prevent cutting tool damage, and save on labor costs by automating chip collection and management. Here are some essential technologies to keep an eye on: 1. Automated Coolant Mixing and Delivery: Keeping CNC machines topped off with coolant at the correct concentration is a perfect task for automation, such as in Blaser Swisslube’s AutoPilot, which monitors every connected machine's concentration, temperature, and sump level. The system can keep each machine topped off with the correct coolant mixture, and Blaser’s Liquid Tool Manager records all data in a central hub. This ensures coolant is always at the optimal level and concentration, even overnight. Shops benefit from consistent tool life, less downtime for refills, and fewer problems related to chip buildup. Traditionally, shops have had to monitor the state of their coolant through two methods: carefully testing it each morning to ensure it meets the quality standards expected of a modern manufacturer, or taking a sniff to see if it’s gone bad yet. Today, however, shops can rely on automated systems like those from Blaser Swisslube to manage the health of their coolant and avoid the smell altogether without sacrificing machine time. 2. Coolant Health Monitoring (IoT): Building on the above, technology like Jorgensen’s Will-Fill coolant-monitoring system includes advanced monitoring and alerts, as does the ChemCom Power BI monitoring system. Both companies’ offerings measure pH, concentration, coolant temperature, and more. All information is accessible via dashboards that break down the collected data. With your coolant system under constant monitoring, you can avoid problems like rancid coolant before they happen. Users can lose the “Monday morning smell” of stagnant coolant and avoid having to halt machining to replace it. 3. Chip Conveyors and Advanced Chip Handling: Almost every CNC machine has a chip conveyor, but not all conveyors are created equal. Modern systems aim to reduce human intervention as much as possible while making it easier to recover coolant. For example, magnetic conveyors like those from Bunting Magnetics automatically separate ferrous chips and small parts. Mayfran International and LNS provide multiple conveyors designed to separate chips from coolant, simplifying chip recycling and coolant recovery. Finally, ERBO offers a centralized system for collecting chips from multiple CNC machines, transporting them to a single location for processing. This reduces manual labor involved in disposing swarf. These conveyance systems let machines shed waste continuously without hiccups, crucial for unattended machining. 4. Fine Filtration and Self-Cleaning Systems: Chips and swarf circulating in coolant can cause tool wear and machine issues, which makes filtration vital. Automated filtration systems like those offered by IMTS exhibitors remove fine particles to keep coolant clean without constant human oversight. Zero Gravity Filters’ Maggie magnetic separation technology removes ferrous particles from oils using magnetism. Ebbco provides multiple filtration systems specifically designed for cutting tool grinding operations. Its Evomatic Filtration Central System filters particles as small as 0.5 micron from oil while maintaining a consistent temperature. Engineered Filtration, on the other hand, provides filtration machines designed for various applications including magnetic filtration for ferrous materials, the Clean Tower range for fine particles, and the Hydroflux for general machining and mixed materials. Transor Filter, for its part, specializes in filtration systems that can separate out fine particles — some separating out particles as small as 1 micron — making them perfect for grinding and EDM cells, and larger operations can benefit from a centralized system that covers nine or more machines. These systems all reduce the need for operators to frequently clean out coolant tanks, reducing downtime for tank cleaning and increasing coolant life. They turn messy chores into background processes. High-pressure coolant has proven itself a vital boon to many machining processes, improving chip evacuation and tool life for drilling and turning, as well as when working with difficult materials. 5. High-Pressure Coolant Systems: Delivering coolant at 300-1000 psi can dramatically improve chip evacuation and cooling in drilling and turning operations. Companies like Wanner Engineering and Hirt Line provide the equipment needed to deliver high-pressure through-coolant, which hits the workpiece directly at the cut to improve lubrication and heat dissipation, providing better chip control and enabling users to increase cutting speeds, improving the consistency of parts coming out of automated cells. Users can also set up high-pressure systems that automatically adjust or pulse coolant flow as needed, such as with Jorgensen’s FlexForce system. Automating coolant delivery in this way means running difficult jobs without needing constant operator intervention to clear chips or adjust feeds. 6. Coolant Chillers and Temperature Control: Maintaining consistent coolant temperature is another way to improve machining consistency. Temperature-controlled coolants prevent thermal expansion issues in both the machine and part, improving precision and extending coolant life. The aptly named Thermal Care and Fluid Chillers offer chiller options that integrate into the coolant system. Automation here is about feedback loops – temperature sensors and coolant flow are automatically regulated to keep conditions steady. For a shop owner, this means the first part and the hundredth part see the same thermal conditions, providing the consistency needed to hold tight tolerances in long unmanned runs. Coolant is a necessary part of almost every machining process, which means that coolant management is a necessary part of running almost every machine shop. Automating this process frees up workers to tackle the more high-value challenges. 7. Oil Filtration: Tramp oil – the way lube, hydraulic oil, and other fluids that leaks into coolant – can be automatically removed by belt skimmers, coalescers, and centrifuge separators such as those provided by Losma and Engineered Filtration. Skimmers, for example, can be programmed to run continuously or periodically in the sump, skimming off floating oil or extracting oil from coolant and returning cleaned coolant to the tank, greatly extending coolant life and maintaining cutting performance. A small investment here saves a shop from having to do full coolant changeouts as often and keeps machines healthier. 8. Chip Compactors and Briquetters: Disposing of metal chips is often labor-intensive, with workers hauling out bins, dripping coolant everywhere. Automation can come to the rescue with chip processing systems that shred, wring out, and compress chips into dense briquettes. Jorgensen showed an ER20T briquette press that uses hydraulic pressure to compress chips and squeeze out residual cutting fluid. This yields two benefits: reclaimed coolant (which goes back to your system) and compact, dry pucks of metal that are cheaper to recycle. These systems can be batch or continuous, with some shops using conveyors that take chips from machines directly to a crusher. The process can be highly automated, with sensors to alert when a bin is full or a barrel of fluid needs emptying. For a busy shop, chip compaction means less time wasted handling scrap and more money back from recyclers. 9. Dust and Mist Collection Systems: If your shop does a lot of grinding or dry machining, or otherwise generates a great deal of coolant mist, air quality and machine cleanliness are issues. Automation here includes mist collectors attached to machines that continuously pull mist or smoke and filter it. New mist collection units like those provided by Coral USA can self-drain the collected oil back to the machine and have sensors to indicate when filters are clogging. Similarly, companies like Tiger-Vac and Airflow Systems provide automated vacuum systems for dust collection for numerous processes including EDM, graphite machining, or machining of dangerous materials. Delfin Industrial Corporation provides portable dust collection units that enable the shop the flexibility to choose which machines to run parts that require this solution, rather than limiting the shop’s options to whichever cells are already equipped with dust collection. These keep the environment safe for workers and the machines cleaner without manual intervention. From smarter coolant monitoring to advanced chip handling and filtration, IMTS 2026 showcases automation solutions that boost uptime, extend tool life, and improve consistency across the shop. These innovations free your team to focus on higher-value work and keep production running at its best. At IMTS 2026, you can explore these technologies live, connect with experts, and find the right solutions for your manufacturing. Begin now: Use the IMTS Search function to explore dozens of technologies by keyword and the IMTS Show Planner to plan your visit. Mark your calendar for IMTS 2026, Sept. 14-19, 2026, in Chicago. Register today at IMTS.com/Register!
Discover cleaner, smarter, automated scrap and coolant solutions to boost efficiency, reduce waste, and optimize your shop floor.
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