I deeply appreciate hearing directly from the people we serve — especially manufacturers like Tom Bassett, owner of Pro-Cam Services. His story captures the heart of what IMTS is all about: discovering technology, finding inspiration, building connections, and creating real opportunities for growth. This is why we do it — to help people achieve the impossible. Tom’s experience shows how one visit to IMTS can transform not only a business, but a team’s mindset, capabilities, and future. -- Michelle Edmonson Vice President - Exhibitions IMTS: Where the Impossible Becomes Reality By Thomas E Bassett II, Owner, Pro-Cam Services LLC Alex Bassett uses the Zoller presetter to optically measure a tool’s cutting edges and output a digital file with tools offsets and runout for direct upload to the CNC, eliminating the risk of data entry errors and boosting CNC uptime. My wife and I own Pro-Cam Services LLC, a 24-person CNC job shop in Zeeland, Michigan, known for delivering rapid turnaround times without compromising quality. Two of our three sons, Alex and Brent, also work in the business. Our success is built on a culture of continuous innovation, constantly seeking ways to improve efficiency and expand our capabilities. As a true CNC job shop with 38,000 square-feet of floor space , we serve a wide range of industries — including aerospace, automation, furniture, industrial manufacturing, and more — each demanding precision and reliability. For years, we had heard about IMTS but were always too busy to attend. In 2016, I finally decided to take a day trip, unaware that I was about to uncover a major missed opportunity. Day-to-day, you become stuck in the bubble that is your shop. When you go to IMTS, the whole world opens to what other people are doing and where technology is going. IMTS isn’t just another trade show; it’s a powerhouse of innovation, bringing together everything related to manufacturing under one roof. For someone like me, IMTS was better than Disney World, something I never thought possible. From that moment on, I knew I could never afford to skip it again. In 2018, my wife and I ensured we had time to fully experience IMTS, booking a hotel for the entire week. This time, we had a clear agenda: researching new coolant solutions and ERP systems. IMTS delivered. We explored multiple coolant suppliers and found an option that improved shop efficiency, safeguarded employee health, and benefited the environment. Brent Bassett using the Darex drill sharpener.While walking the show floor, we discovered Darex’s automatic drill sharpener (booth #432364), an upgrade that eliminated the frustration of dull drills and blown-out holes. We watched a demonstration and saw how easy it was to use. This was not on our radar and wouldn’t be in the shop if not for IMTS. It works beautifully and gets used almost daily. The biggest game-changer came when we stopped by Zoller (booth #432018). Initially, I hadn’t considered their tool presetters relevant to our shop, but my wife’s curiosity led us to pause for a demonstration. That moment of hesitation turned into a breakthrough. If we could measure tools outside the machine while production continued, we would save enormous amounts of time. Running the numbers to eliminate the need to touch off 30 tools a day, which takes 30 minutes or longer if there’s a runout problem, I realized that the Zoller presetter would pay for itself in just three months. What I didn’t anticipate was how transformative it would be — within a year of installation, our revenue increased by $1 million. While there are other factors, a large part of that increase was due to the Zoller presetter. A tool shrink fitter, used here by Brent Bassett, maximizes tool rigidity and balance to optimize high-speed machining. IMTS continued to shape our future. In 2022, we focused on shrink-fit tooling, discovering that Zoller again had the ideal solution for us. Shrink-fit technology unlocked higher speeds and feeds, extended tool life, and superior finishes — capabilities we once thought were impossible. By 2024, IMTS had become a cornerstone of our business, so we arranged for our entire shop to attend. I covered all the gas money and parking fees, and paid my employees for eight hours and gave them lunch money. I find IMTS extremely inspiring, and I wanted everyone to have that same experience. They were in awe. We had no idea just how much this visit to IMTS 2024 would redefine our trajectory. Adding five-axis milling had long been a goal, something we saw as a distant dream. Yet by the end of Friday (the fifth day of the show), I was signing the paperwork for a DN Solutions DVF 5000 (booth #338919). I doubled our company debt, but our financial lender was impressed with the work we had been doing and cleared us for the loan in two days. The impact of adding five-axis capabilities was immediate. We recently ran a part in just 20 minutes — one that previously required 10 hours due to multiple setups. Impossible? Not with IMTS. Tom Bassett II, owner of Pro-Cam Services, purchased this five-axis CNC at IMTS 2024. Adding five-axis technology enabled him to slash cutting time by 72% of this aerospace part. IMTS has been instrumental in helping us find, evaluate, and implement technology that would otherwise remain out of reach. Comparing different manufacturers side by side, capitalizing on show discounts, and attending seminars that sharpen our business strategy, these opportunities are invaluable. We’ve gained insights from seminars at the show, such as on retaining talent. I remember the speaker asked the audience, “When is the last time you fired somebody because of the quality work they did?” That really sunk in because most of the time when we fire somebody, it’s because the person has a bad attitude that brings the rest of the shop down. Because of that, we changed our interview process. Being a competent machinist is table stakes, but what I am more interested in learning is about who you are as a person, because we have an excellent culture in the shop, and we want people who want to see the shop succeed. IMTS is an invaluable resource for shops of all sizes, offering game-changing insights without requiring major capital investment. Sometimes, it’s the smallest adjustments — a new end mill, an improved coolant, or a refined workholding technique — that drive the biggest improvements in efficiency and quality. With technology evolving at an unprecedented pace and AI reshaping the industry, staying ahead of the curve is more challenging than ever. IMTS provides a crucial platform to explore innovations, compare solutions, and ensure your shop remains competitive in this rapidly changing landscape. For Pro-Cam Services, IMTS is more than an event — it’s an asset, one that continually propels us forward. If we’ve learned anything since our first show in 2016, it’s that IMTS thrives on turning the impossible into reality. Just as IMTS has fueled Pro-Cam’s growth, it can spark your next breakthrough. Save the date for IMTS 2026, Sept. 14-19, in Chicago, and see what’s possible for your business.
IMTS opened the door for Pro-Cam Services to boost revenue, add five-axis machining, and implement transformative tech like Zoller presetters — turning dreams into reality.
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