Dayton manufacturing trade show to showcase robots, newest tech

The Dayton Region Manufacturing Association’s annual trade show — dubbed the “Advanced Manufacturing Technology Show” — begins Wednesday at the Dayton Convention Center downtown.

It’s the annual chance for manufacturers in a 14-county area around Dayton to rub elbows with customers, suppliers and partners in the manufacturing arena.

Hundreds of participants behind dozens of exhibits will be showing the latest in technologies and processes in the two-day event.

The doors open at the convention center at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The schedule is 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday.

“The thing that excites me about the show this year is the mix of exhibitors,” Angelia Erbaugh, the DRMA’s executive director, said in a recent interview. “We continue to evolve the mix of exhibitors.”

More than 3,000 regional prospects and contacts are expected to be on hand.

In years past, the annual confab was often called “the tool show,” Erbaugh recalled. The show was primarily about equipment for machining and tooling companies at that point.

Today, the event’s purpose is broader.

“It’s all kinds of manufacturing technology,” Erbaugh said. “So we have robotics automation exhibitors now. We have exhibitors who deal with different types of technology handled in a manufacturing plant —mixers and sorters and that type of thing.”

But the entire affair is about more than technology. It’s about face-to-face interactions and seeing up close what can’t be seen on the Internet.

“What our attendees tell us is, yes, we can go to the Internet to do some shopping around,” Erbaugh said. “But we need to touch it and feel it before we buy it.

A new exhibit added only recently: Miami Valley Career Technology Center is slated to bring a special “ram-tech” truck and plans a robotics display as well.

“People walk in it, walk through the trailer to see various kinds of equipment,” Erbaugh said. “It’s pretty cool.”

Admission is free for those who pre-register and $10 at the door. Registration and more information can be found at http://2017.daytonamts.com/

The convention center is at Fifth and Main streets in downtown Dayton.

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