Mach 2008
March 1st 2008 Mach 2008 will be held on 21-25 April 2008 at
Birmingham's NEC. It is the UK's premier
manufacturing technologies event, encompassing
metalcutting and metalforming machine tools along
with all ancillary and related products and services.
Mach attracts over 500 exhibitors and in excess of
22,000 visitors to each show
MACH is the largest UK showcase
of new manufacturing
technologies. In 2006 over 168 of
the 490 exhibitors present were displaying
products and services which were new to
MACH – that's almost 40% of exhibitors.
All exhibitors showing new products or
services at MACH 2008 will be identified in
the Exhibition Catalogue, provided free-ofcharge
to all pre-registered visitors. New at
MACH exhibitors will also be displaying
the New at MACH logo on their stands.
Also, 250 specially invited international
delegates will be visiting MACH 2008 with
the intention of setting up links with UK
companies and ultimately spending a
predicted budget in excess of £100m.
The visitors are part of a delegation
invited to the show by the MTA, with the
assistance of the UKTI Advanced
Engineering, Automotive and Aerospace
Sector Teams. The UKTI departments have
jointly given their approval to supply funding
for inward overseas missions to MACH.
MACH 2008 will run alongside Subcon,
Airtech, Drives and Controls, PWE, Electrex
and IFPEX. The events will bring together
the latest developments in a range of
manufacturing technologies and related
industries and together will prove a onestop-
shop for people looking to source
innovative new products and services.
Pre-register for Fast-Track
Pre-registering for MACH opens up a
number of benefits and is absolutely free
of charge. The registration process
involves a simple online form which takes
no-more than five minutes to complete.
Once registered you'll guarantee fast
track entry to the show and you'll also
receive a host of extras to help you make
the most of MACH. First and foremost
you'll be sent a copy of the Exhibition
Catalogue – your essential guide to MACH
including who's exhibiting, details of
seminars and events and show info. The
Exhibition Catalogue is an excellent contact
resource after the show as full details of all
exhibiting companies are provided in an
easy to use format, indexed by company
name and products. Nearer the show you'll
also receive your show pass which
includes a floorplan of both halls.
New for this year in the pre-registration
package will be access to the MACH
interactive floorplan – an online tool to help
you pre-plan your visit to MACH by
identifying companies of interest to you
and marking them on maps of the halls – a
great benefit which will enable you to
maximise your time once you arrive at the
show. Interactive floorplans will be
released in the near future.
The manufacturing Advisory Service is
running a series of seminars throughout
the week. First is Off shore? Be sure! This
will run on Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday at 10.30am. Globalisation of the
world economy has brought significant
opportunities and threats to UK
manufacturing. The key issue for UK
manufacturers is competitiveness –
offshore activities provide many
opportunities to gain an edge in this area,
be it exporting, licensing of intellectual
property or just simply lower-cost
procurement. MAS West Midlands has
developed an innovative 'Offshoring'
exercise to raise your awareness of the
issues and complexities of this, frequently
emotive, subject. You are invited to
participate in this popular event in the
seminar area at MACH 08.
The second seminar is Torch Factory
Simulation, this runs every day at the show
starting at 1.30pm Monday-Thursday and
Friday morning. The Manufacturing
Advisory Service (MAS) is running a series
of interactive manufacturing simulations at
its stand at MACH 2008. The aim of the
Torch Factory Simulation is simple – teams
must assemble as many torches as
possible over a given time. Torches that
light up and meet the customer's
expectations are counted as a profit.
Assigning specific roles and
responsibilities to individuals, the teams
have three years of hypothetical
manufacturing production in which to
establish the most effective processes,
identify any areas of waste, and implement
improvements to enhance the
performance of their factory.
The team that makes the most profit
after the three-year production period is
the winner and will be automatically
entered onto the event's Top Gear-style
scoreboard. Along with a daily prize for the
winning team, when MACH draws to a
close, the team with the overall best profit
score of the week will be rewarded.
All participants will receive a
complimentary copy of John Bicheno's
New Lean Toolbox. Companies that think
they are up to the challenge can register
by calling 01902 838306 or emailing
meccles@mas-wm.org
UKIVA will be running its most ambitious
programme of FREE seminars at the
MACH 2008 exhibition, 21-25 April 2008,
NEC, Birmingham UK. With financial
support from the Photonics Knowledge
Transfer Network helping to fund the
seminars, the overall theme will be "Why
machine vision is now mainstream, reliable
and cost-effective". The seminars will
concentrate on the totality of solving
problems with vision, including optics and
lighting, as well as cameras and software
and other components.
There will be one programme on
Monday and Wednesday and a different
programme on Tuesday and Thursday,
each featuring 5 seminars from UKIVA
members Alrad Imaging, Firstsight Vision,
FLIR Systems, Matrox Imaging and
Multipix Imaging. Friday's seminar will be
aimed primarily at the exhibition's
exhibitors to help them know what to look
for in a vision system. The seminars will
take place in Hall 4 on the UKIVA stand.
For full information about the MACH
show and to pre-register for your free
ticket see www.mach2008.com More articles from MTA - MACH SHOW: | 
