Chicagos McCormick Place will host the 2013 edition of FABTECH.
Coming back to Chicago, the 2013 edition of FABTECH will have something for everyone. Held beside Lake Michigan, in the North and South Halls of McCormick Place, the show is expected to host about 35,000 attendees visiting 1,500 exhibitors between November 18 and 21.
FABTECH is North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event, and will cover over 550,000 net square feet of the convention centre with the newest machines and other manufacturing equipment.
Recent down years the manufacturing sector has a new spring in its step, and is looking forward to the future. FABTECH will feature panels on “Building an American Manufacturing Workforce for the Future,” and “Solutions for a Qualified Workforce Pipeline”.
The opening keynote address, “Navigating the Fiscal Reality,” will be delivered by Alan Beaulieu, President of ITR Economics on Monday November 18. He will take a look at what’s going on in the U.S., in markets that impact industry, and will present the economic outlook for the global economy.
He will host a question and answer session the next day wher owners and managers of various firms that are grappling with similar issues discuss how to
deal with these challenges while remaining competitive.
Special education sessions:
Special education sessions are always a big feature at FABTECH. The Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International (FMA), SME, Precision metalforming Association (PMA), and Chemical Coaters Association International (CCAI), are co-sponsoring sessions on automation and robotics, cutting, finishing, forming and fabricating, job shop solutions, lasers, lean, management, stamping, and tube and pipe.
Offering practical knowledge, some of these sessions combine classroom instruction followed by expert-led guided tours on the show floor to see technology operating in designated booths. Of course, welding is also central to FABTECH and the American Welding Society (AWS) is bringing a host of conferences, seminars and other activities to the show.
There are many educational programs such as the Resistance Welding School – a two-day course that covers the basics of resistance welding, and real-life applications of the process.
As the only resistance welding school offered in the industry, it is designed to give operators, production supervisors, engineers, and others the opportunity to further their knowledge in the theory, applications, and equipment used in the resistance welding process.
Participants are encouraged to bring welded samples for discussion with the experts. There will be several competitions this year. Returning is the Professional Welders Competition that will be held on Monday and Tuesday (with the winner announced on Wednesday).
Welders will demonstrate their skills to earn the title of “Best Welder in America” by making a single-pass SMAW weld with E7018 on low-carbon steel. Speed and quality will be the criteria to win the $2,500 first prize, $1,000 second prize, and $500 third prize. Professional welders can sign up onsite or at the AWS site (www.aws.org).
Whats new at FABTECH:
New to FABTECH are the Welding Wars Competition, and the AWS 2013 Robotic Arc Welding Contest. The latter will take place between Tuesday and Thursday, and robotic welding technicians will compete with a timed, written, and practical exercise with a live welding robot (a simulated CRAW coupon-welding exam) to win free training and examination for the AWS Certified Robotic Arc Welding (CRAW) Operator or Technician certification.
The organizer, Vernon L. Mangold, Jr. said the contestants have a time limit to program the computer and robot. Also, Certified Robot Arc Welders are not eligible to enter. The first time this competition ran, “the guy who won the contest was an undergrad student and had never programmed an ABB robot in his life,” he said. “In fact, he beat two graduates who were trained on ABB and one professional. The winner was a good manual welder. This underscores what we have said for years that you give me a good welder I’ll make a good robot welder out of them. The reverse is not always true.”
In the Welding Wars Competition competing teams will fabricate weldment on a supplied print using GTAW, GMAW, and plasma cutting, with sheared and cut material provided, within a time limit of two hours. Organizer Professor James E. (Jim) Greer said, “We expect to sign current high school or college students for the competition, and hope to have around 14 teams of 3 persons each.”
All weldments will be judged by a panel of current AWS Certified Welding Inspectors and Senior AWS Certified Welding Inspectors, he said. For more information on the competitions visit: www.AWS.org.
Finally, FABTECH is not just about business, and can also include some fun. Tuesday, November 19, the conference will host a happy hour between 3:00-5:00pm so participants can mingle in a less formal manner. Since Chicago is home to Second City it’s fitting that the next day FABTECH will host a Cocktails and Comedy night. This event will feature a group of short-form improvisers specializing in quick-witted comedy.
For more information, visit www.fabtechexpo.com for conference pricing, schedules and accommodation.
