FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show announce strategic alliance with METALFORM

Four industry-leading trade show organizers have formed an alliance to better serve the needs of trade show exhibitors and manufacturers in North America from the fields of fabricating, tube & pipe, welding and cutting, metal forming, and related processes. The show alliance between the three organizers of the FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show—the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association International (FMA) and the American Welding Society (AWS)— and the organizer of METALFORM, the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA), will result in a combined annual exhibition.

While the first official combined exhibition will take place in November 2009, the partners have agreed to a "soft start" at the 2008 FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show, to be held October 6-8 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV. The Vegas show will include a METALFORM pavilion, displaying innovations in stamping technology. An estimated 20,000 people from around the world are expected to visit the show, which will feature more than 800 exhibits.

By uniting the industry under one roof, the newly combined event will be significantly more inclusive, adding value for both exhibitors and attendees. The 2009 show is expected to cover 650,000 net sq. ft. with 1,300 exhibiting companies, becoming the "one-stop shop" in North America where attendees can access the latest materials, equipment and services for all metal forming, fabricating, tube & pipe, welding and cutting technologies.

"This alliance will deliver the broadest array of metal forming, fabricating, cutting and joining technologies for manufacturing," said Mark Tomlinson, SME executive director. "Manufacturers need comprehensive exposure to every one of these technologies to compete in the global marketplace, and now they only have to go to one show to find them."

Gerald M. Shankel, FMA president and CEO said, "This is a good move for the industry. The METALFORM exhibition, with its focus on metal stamping and related technologies brings in-depth metal forming technology together with the FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show's unparalleled showcase of fabricating machinery, tube & pipe, welding and cutting technologies, and will offer a first-rate venue."

"AWS is pleased that METALFORM will join with the FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show," said Ray Shook, AWS executive director. "Metal forming companies are major customers of the welding and cutting industries. We're confident this alliance will add significant value for both exhibitors and attendees."

William Gaskin, PMA president, said, "The combination of PMA's METALFORM event with the FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show joins the leading exhibitions in each of the core manufacturing technology areas and also brings together four leading manufacturing trade associations and societies to better serve their respective industries."

Combining these shows creates unique opportunities for networking, interaction and learning that won't exist at any other industry event. In addition to the expanded show floor, FABTECH International, AWS and PMA will also conduct independent, but complementary, professional conferences and technical education programs during the 2009 show.

In 2010, the FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show and METALFORM event will be held November 2-4 in Atlanta, GA.