There’s nothing like getting back on the trade show floor after a few long years without it. We couldn’t wait to dust off our booth backdrops and get back to networking in person, and the past month has been busy with industry events around the country.
To kick off the spring trade show season, our team headed out to Rosemont, IL for the inaugural PTXPO, a showcase of plastics technology across the entire industrial spectrum. Westminster Tool exhibited side-by-side with Mantle, our 3D printing partner. Together our booths showcased some of our latest projects, including case studies where we put metal 3D printed cavities to the test. Our manufacturing engineer, Eddie Graff, gave one of the highest attended Tech Talk presentations at the show, where he revealed the results from our latest medical device case study with Mantle and Foster Corp. PTXPO gave us a chance to get our feet wet again in the trade show business, and we were so excited to reunite with old friends, suppliers and customers.
After a brief break in between, our team then headed to Anaheim, CA for IME West, one of the largest co-located shows for all things manufacturing. There we shared the booth with Foster Corp. as our host to further promote the medical device case study. We were blown away by the attendance! Day 1 and 2 ran out of badges for attendees, and thousands of attendees lined up at the hall entrance every day to get in. The halls were so full we barely had time to cover the full show floor, featuring exhibitors for materials, machines and everything in between. Our large medical customer base made this a successful event scheduled to the brim visiting customers and prospects all in one place.
“How do you measure success of a show?” asks Westminster Tool President Ray Coombs. “If you’re in the emerging technology business, you can’t afford not to get in front of decision makers at a show.” All it takes is one new relationship, because the return on events like takes time.
Trade shows like PTXPO and IME West serve very different purposes for Westminster Tool, and every year offers unique opportunities. This year, both events served as a chance to promote our latest work with Mantle and Foster. Through partnerships like this, we were able to test out Foster’s new material with molding trials using Mantle’s metal 3D-printed cavities. These shows gave us a major platform to share news on these technological advancements, and we can’t wait for the next one.
Stay tuned to learn about other events we’re attending this year!
