Metal cutting machines continue to re‐invent themselves as manufacturing systems at latest IMTS show

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago with emphasis on innovations in applying automation to manufacturing and assembly. Design/methodology/approach In‐depth interviews with exhibitors of automated assembly and manufacturing technology. Findings Building of production machinery continues to move toward offering automated assembly or production cells and away from building single purpose metal cutting machinery. Robots are married to machine tools for much more than just tending. Originality/value The paper shows that users in almost any manufacturing realm will find that automated manufacturing technologies are now addressing all types of production requirements. No longer it is necessary to think that only million off part runs can be produced in an automated manner. Machine tool builders are including testing, finishing, marking, assembly and other secondary operations within the basic machining unit for a wide range of production volumes. Automation can even be applied to “made to order” type production.