6 Sustainability Trends to Look for at IMTS

Looking to learn more about how sustainability factors into your shop’s operations?

“Sustainability” in manufacturing is more than a buzzword, with a variety of reasons for shops to aim for greener operations, such as helping customers meet their environmental and carbon emissions goals, complying with new or proposed regulations in certain industries, or simply increasing efficiency to reduce operations costs.

IMTS 2024 promises opportunities to learn about all the latest technologies and tools across manufacturing. This includes exhibitors dedicated to sustainability-related technologies like additive manufacturing, digital tools such as digital twin technology and data-driven smart manufacturing, as well as educational sessions focused on sustainability.

What sustainability-related technologies should you keep an eye out for on the show floor?

Energy-efficient machinery. Cost-effectiveness and sustainability can go hand-in-hand. One way to reduce a shop’s carbon emissions is to invest in energy-saving equipment or solutions for optimizing existing processes to reduce energy consumption. If you’re at the show looking for a new machine for your shop, ask whether energy-efficient options are available!

Smart manufacturing. Looking for more advanced solutions to optimize your operations? Integrating automation, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), digital twins, sensors or other smart manufacturing solutions into operations can lead to more efficient operations and lower scrap rates as well as cost savings.

Additive manufacturing. Industrial 3D printers offer on-demand, customizable, near-net-shape solutions for manufacturing prototypes, tooling and end-use parts — all of which has potential to reduce material use and manufacturing scrap among other benefits. IMTS 2024 features more than 70 additive manufacturing exhibitors on the show floor.

Sustainable parts cleaning solutions. More companies are developing and marketing sustainable or aqueous solvents to clean parts, as well as presenting solutions for reducing waste during parts cleaning.

Tools made from recycled materials. Depending on what industry you work in, you might have opportunities to switch to recycled materials such as metals for cutting tools or other equipment. Plus, many cutting tool suppliers also provide services for collecting and recycling tools after they’ve been used. You can find more than 300 tooling and workholding exhibitors displaying their various solutions on the show floor!

Conference sessions. If you’re looking for learning opportunities at the show, there are multiple IMTS Conference sessions directly focused directly on sustainability, or on parts cleaning, additive manufacturing, the future of manufacturing and more.

For the latest details about all of IMTS 2024’s conference programming and exhibits, visit imts.com.