As the year draws to a close, I’d like to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude for the continued support of Gear Technology’s readers, advertisers and authors. Thank you for being an integral part of the gear community. This holiday season, as I reflect on the challenges, triumphs, and growth of the past year, I am reminded of the shared passion we all have for advancing the field of gear manufacturing.

A classic candy store offers a dazzling display of lollipops, gumballs and every variety of sprinkled, dusted chocolate and chewy, gummy delights. The bright colors and sugary sweet smell are designed to make an eight-year-old’s eyes bulge, mouth water and tongue hang out. IMTS is just like that, but for technical trade journalists. The show provides an immersive display of manufacturing technology and a seemingly unlimited supply of experts (some of them also colorful) to talk about applications of that technology.

Next month, much of our team will be heading to IMTS (Sept. 9–14 in Chicago) to explore all the latest technology in manufacturing. As always, the show promises to include a wide variety of ways for manufacturers to improve their quality, productivity and profitability.