JIMTOF 2022 Announces Record Number of Exhibitors

The Japan International Machine Tool Fair, JIMTOF 2022, is one of the largest machine tool exhibitions in the world, organized by the Japan Machine Tool Builders’ Association (JMTBA) and Tokyo Big Sight Inc. It will be held at Tokyo Big Sight in Tokyo, Japan from November 8 to November 13, 2022.

JIMTOF 2022 will reportedly feature 1,086 companies from 22 countries and regions around the world with 5,619 booths, including 59 exhibitors with 173 booths in the additive manufacturing (AM) area. With 95 more booths than at JIMTOF 2018, JIMTOF 2022 will be the largest exhibition in the history of JIMTOF.

The theme of the show is “The Present and Future of Cutting-Edge Manufacturing: Machine Tools and Smart Factories.” Two sections, “Produce Machine Tool: State-of-the-Art Machine Tools Factory” and “Work by Machine Tool: A Global Niche Top Company (GNT) Supported by the Most Advanced Machine Tools”, will be set up in at the show. In the “Produce Machine Tools” section, four major machine tool manufacturers will share the challenges of the manufacturing industry behind their smart factory initiatives. The section will encourage visitors to explore the Monozukuri factory of the future. A crosstalk show will be held in the special exhibits booth on Thursday, November 10 from 2:00 p.m., and a recorded video of the show will be broadcasted from the following day onwards. In the “Work by Machine Tool” section, visitors experience technology through a cross-sectional exhibition of products from Japan produced by innovative machine tools.

There will also be a special display entitled the “History and Tradition, Technology and Wisdom, Power to Make the Impossible Possible — History of Japanese jet engine development.” By introducing IHI’s jet engine technology, this exhibit shows visitors the high technical capabilities of jet engine technology backed by history and tradition.

Another special display, “A novel manufacturing technology for bringing life to your designs and inspiration — Development of next-generation industrial 3D printer technology”, will be exhibited in the AM area with cooperation from the Technology Research Association for Future Additive Manufacturing (TRAFAM). This exhibit will include panels and other displays of the development results of TRAFAM’s past efforts, such as “the technological development of 3D laminated molding technology and powder materials such as metals; the practical application of metal 3D printers with the world's highest molding speed and accuracy; and the development of a defect prediction system and advanced monitoring, food bag and control technology using a powder bed method for metals.

Masamichi Okada, president of Primearth EV Energy Co., which is said to hold the top share of the global hybrid vehicle battery market, will deliver the keynote speech at JIMTOF 2022. Under the theme of “Monozukuri — The Frontier of a Carbon Neutral Era”, Okada will present the possibilities for hydrogen and mobility as carbon neutrality becomes a global trend and people’s lives and businesses undergo major transformations. In addition to these lectures, other themes such as 6G and the supercomputer, “Fugaku,” are planned, and many lectures have been scheduled in the AM area.