DMG/Mori Seiki USA, recently announced record attendance at its Innovation Days 2013. The event, which ran May 7-10, welcomed 3,208 visitors from more than 10 countries. The attendance represents a 45 percent increase from 2012. This is the ninth year DMG/Mori Seiki has hosted employees, partners, customers and potential customers at its U.S. headquarters. Randy Harland, executive vice president of sales, attributes the event’s success to both substance and consistency. “People know they can come here and see changes in manufacturing processes from each year to the next, so we get a lot of repeat customers coming back and also spreading the word that this is the place to be,” says Harland.

Highlights and hot topics at Innovation Days 2013 included:

•Five U.S. machine premieres:  While Innovation Days boasts 45 machines under power, five made their U.S. debut at Innovation Days. Those machines include the DMC 85 monoBLOCK, the Vertical Mate 125, the NVX7000/50, the NLX1500SY/500 and the NLX2000SY/700. Attendees experienced dynamic demonstrations on all machines.

•Presentation of NIMS accreditation: The National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) was on hand to present DMG/Mori Seiki University (DMSU) with its official accreditation for its CNC machining and maintenance training programs.

•Gear Milling technology advancements: DMG/Mori Seiki Manager of Gear Production Nitin Chaphalkar, and Nicklas Byland, InvoMilling project manager at Sandvik Coromant, presented the InvoMilling process, a new machining technique that allows faster, more efficient production of spur and helical gears in multitask machines and machining centers. The new technology was a highlight for many attendees as the need for flexible manufacturing increases.

•Student Day: DMSU welcomed more than 200 Chicago-area high school students to increase awareness of and enthusiasm for the machine tool industry. To further students’ interest in manufacturing, 18-year-old Andretti Autosports Indy Lights driver Zach Veach spoke to students about the importance of machining and manufacturing in the racing industry.

Ronda Turner Peterson, CEO with Peterson Machining located in Boulder, Colorado attends Innovation Days to help her company forecast new offerings. “We’re a job shop, so our product changes all the time. We like to see what’s up and coming and what areas we might want to move into for our next (machine) purchase,” Peterson says.

DMG/Mori Seiki looks forward to hosting future successful Innovation Days events as well as sharing more groundbreaking technologies at EMO 2013 in Hannover, Germany September 16-21.