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FABTECH hosts 31,000 visitors, covers 461,627 sq. ft.

The 2007 FABTECH® International & AWS Welding Show at McCormick Place in Chicago hosted more exhibiting companies and covered more exhibit space than any previous FABTECH. Filling 461,627 sq. ft. of booth space, the show attracted nearly 31,000 visitors from more than 75 countries, a 27 percent increase over the 2005 show, also held in Chicago. The annual event showcases metal forming, fabricating, stamping, tube and pipe, and welding equipment and technology.

The show is cosponsored by the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International (FMA), Rockford, Ill.; the American Welding Society (AWS), Miami; and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), Dearborn, Mich. It is supported by industry partner the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Washington, D.C.

"We have already received so much positive feedback about [the] show from both exhibitors and attendees," said Jerry Shankel, FMA president and CEO. "There were more than a thousand exhibitors and they have been telling us how pleased they are with the quantity and quality of attendees who visited their booths."

More than 500 new products were displayed at FABTECH, SME reports. The show included an Innovation Theater that offered 28 presentations on new technology; a Thermal Spray Pavilion; a Job Fair/Work Force Development Pavilion; a laser cutting certificate program; business improvement seminars; an executive forum; the 2007 Professional Welders Competition; and a Leadership Summit, attended by more than 300 people, that addressed the shortage of skilled workers in U.S. manufacturing. The show also included more than 100 conferences, seminars, professional programs, and technical sessions.

The 2008 show, scheduled for Oct. 6-8, will be the first FABTECH held in Las Vegas. More than 700 exhibitors have reserved approximately 90 percent of the available space for the event, which is expected to cover 325,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space and draw 20,000 attendees.