Latest news with #ManufacturingTechnologySeries
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Manufacturing event at Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield
WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The first day of a manufacturing event at the Eastern States Exposition began on Tuesday. The Manufacturing Technology Series EAST, formerly EASTEC, is back starting Tuesday at the Eastern States Exposition, taking over four buildings on the grounds. Over 500 exhibitors are sharing their companies and the work they do, some traveling from across the country and world, but others right here in western Massachusetts and New England. Chance for scattered showers through Saturday as western Mass. approaches record May rainfall Anything from precision manufacturing with robots to environmental efficiency to tooling and software for computer engineering. Group director of the Manufacturing Technology Series of Events, David Morton told 22News that this event is a snapshot of the marketplace at this moment and shows the health of the industry. 'This is our platform that we provide to represent the best of manufacturing technology to help spur technology adoption of manufacturing and encourage the talent development for the use of manufacturing technology, so we are about building workforce,' Morton said. There is also a program with SME called BrightMinds, which brings high school students to learn and network with industry leaders. 22News was told that students from throughout western Massachusetts were on a treasure hunt throughout the four buildings and those who complete the hunt win a 3D printer. SME and the Manufacturing Technology Series are helping to further the workforce, and the event continues until Thursday. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sparking interest, powering growth: Manufacturing tech show fills Big E
WEST SPRINGFIELD — A robot worked away, sorting and stacking tubes of lip balm Tuesday before an appreciative crowd at the Manufacturing Technology Series East 2025 trade show taking over The Big E this week. The movements were meant to mimic industrial applications on a factory floor, said Kyle Richard, vice president of business development for Elm Electrical in Westfield, which sells and installs systems like this for automation-hungry manufacturers. But the robot comes from Japan and might be subject to a 24% tariff in July under the Trump administration's new trade policy. It adds up quickly when the machine costs $30,000, Richard said. But companies are still interested in new technology. 'Because that's how you deal with the workforce issues,' he said. Topics like trade, developing a new workforce in an industry with aging demographics, new markets in medical devices, aerospace, as well as labor-saving technology, including digital manufacturing and artificial intelligence, were all top of mind at the show. 'Manufacturing likes consistency,' said Dave Morton, nonprofit SME's group director of the Manufacturing Technology Series. 'Manufacturing likes predictability.' SME expected to welcome 500 exhibiting companies and 10,000 or more attendees to the Eastern States Exposition Grounds today, Wednesday and Thursday. Machines, some costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, filled the 129,000-square-foot Mallary Complex, which is used for livestock shows during the annual Big E fair. Manufacturing Technology Series exhibitors filled the Better Living Center, Young and Stroh buildings, and outdoor spaces, too. Some of the highlights on display: A plasma cutter that reached a temperature of 50,000 degrees, cutting metal. There were high-tech vacuum cleaners, too. One vendor explained to high school students how their company made parts for the new all-electric 2025 Volkswagen ID. Buzz van. The show, which happens every other year, formerly was called Eastec. Eastec began in 1981 as the Hartford Tool Show. SME first brought it to West Springfield, because the Whalers made the NHL playoffs that year, and the tool show couldn't take over what was then called the Civic Center. Today, it thrives, servicing the network of small manufacturers that fanned out from the once-bustling Springfield Armory and grew with the help of Pioneer Valley colleges and universities, and the local workforce. 'This is important geography for us,' Morton said. The crowd included more than 100 high school students from the Springfield area, participating in the Bright Minds Student Summit. The students went from booth to booth, learning about products and technologies, and taking short quizzes. In fact, for at least one student, what started off as just a field trip for the day began to pique an interest. 'To come here and see all this technology is interesting,' said Maysin Whitehead, a 10th grader from Springfield Central High School. Engineering fascinated him, he said. It's hard to attract young people into manufacturing. That's one reason companies push hands-free technology, replacing the need for workers with automation. Brian Such, president and COO of Marubeni Citizen-Cincom, a manufacturer and retailer of highly precise CNC machines with a local office in Agawam, held a freshly made stainless steel screw in his hand. The machine takes feed stock, or a raw material, that's yards long and gradually transforms it into small, identical products. Marubeni Citizen-Cincom's local customers includes Smith & Wesson. The finished screw is about inch-and-a-half long and about an eighth of an inch across, with a hole up the middle. It's a surgical screw that would be used to fasten human bone. 'It has to be perfect. It has to be pretty,' said Such. 'Because it is going to fix you.' Read the original article on MassLive.
