Upbeat mood of exhibitors noted at CMTS 2003 (December 01, 2003)

The Canadian Manufacturing Technology Show (CMTS), held Oct. 20-23, 2003, at the National Trade Centre at Exhibition place in Toronto, saw over 11,000 industry professionals attend.

The 2003 edition of the biennial trade event featured the latest tools, equipment, technologies and solutions from more than 600 manufacturers and distributors.

The show visitors represented 5,597 companies, which was an increase of 59% over the number of companies represented in 2001. The total number of attendees was up 6% over the 2001 event.

“CMTS was the most positive atmosphere that I have seen in the metal manufacturing sector in recent years,” said Jim Burrows, president of the Canadian Machine Tool Distributors’ Association (CMTDA). “Everyone seemed delighted at the quality and enthusiasm of the show visitors.”

Several exhibitors said they were pleased with the quality of sales leads they gathered at the show, said show organizer Reed Exhibitions Canada. Some booths even had “sold” signs on their displays, as some exhibitors were selling equipment right off the show floor. Jay Summers, national sales manager at Mitutoyo Canada Inc., was one such exhibitor. “We sold our first machine on the first day, and we’ve had success with multiple leads,” he said. “The show’s been very rewarding and the investment was well worth it.”

The positive feedback continued in the weeks following the show. “I think the 2003 Canadian Machine Tool Show was one of our best to date,” said Mark Watson, president of Century Tools. “The feedback as a result of our follow-up calls has been tremendous. We are extremely excited to continue this momentum to Montreal for the National Factory Automation Show in May.”

Success was also noted from the metal forming section of the show, an area that was formerly Reed Exhibitions’ Canadian Fabricating & Stamping Machinery Show, which had relocated to CMTS this year. “We at Amada Canada are very happy with the results we received from the show. Our company president expressed that he felt the show was a positive experience,” said marketing manager Keith Kerr.

New at CMTS this year was the combination of five shows into one all-encompassing industrial event. The floor was divided into distinct sections: machine tools, factory automation, tooling and supplies, measurement technology/quality assurance, and metal forming.

“Canadian Manufacturing Technology Show is a new banner for this event — which was previously known as the Canadian Machine Tool Show and National Factory Automation Show,” explained group show manager Robert Mathieu. “The physical layout allowed visitors to make the most of their time at the show, by enabling them to focus on particular areas of interest.”

The next CMTS will be held Oct. 17 – 20, 2005, at the National Trade Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto, Ont. For more information, go to www.cmts.ca or call 416-491-7565/1-888-322-7333.