A record floor in Chicago
IMTS 2026, the largest manufacturing technology show in the Western Hemisphere, opened Monday at McCormick Place in Chicago with 1,788 exhibiting companies, including 400 first-time exhibitors. The event covers 1.17 million square feet of exhibit space and runs through Saturday, September 19.
Organizers said attendance is on pace to exceed 90,000 visitors. As of Monday morning, 80,697 people had registered, and the crowd represents all 50 U.S. states and 113 countries. The show brings an estimated $250 million in economic impact to Chicago and Illinois.
Robots move into the machine shop
The theme this year is automation at every scale. Setco is showing a high-speed robotic spindle mounted on a FANUC robotic arm, built for shops that need flexible machining without the cost of a dedicated CNC cell. Universal Robots and Formic Technologies are pushing cobots, machines designed to work next to people, at job shops that have held back because of price and complexity.
Surveys cited by organizers show fewer than 40 percent of U.S. job shops use any automation. Exhibitors are betting that AI-driven production planning, virtual factory simulation and physical AI will close that gap. Other displays combine additive manufacturing, five-axis machining, robots, pallet pools and heat treatment into single systems meant to shorten supply chains and cut energy use.
Reindustrialization is the pitch
Behind the hardware is a policy argument. Show organizers frame the event as part of a broader push to rebuild American industrial capacity, and several sessions focus on training workers and financing equipment for small shops. Manufacturers say the cost of borrowing and the shortage of skilled machinists remain the two biggest brakes on investment.
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