1st Digital Manufacturing Conference - June 22-24 - Call for Papers

March 16, 2011 - PRLog -- Carrabassett Valley, Maine – We are all aware that the expansion of manufacturing jobs is considered a key and essential ingredient to revitalizing and maintaining a strong, vibrant world economy. On June 22-24, 2011 in Hollywood, Florida, IMI’s 1st Digital Manufacturing – Opportunities for Manufacturing Rebirth Conference will explore Digital Manufacturing’s potential as it enters a new era - transitioning from prototyping to full scale production applications. This transition and continued expansion of digital manufacturing can provide needed stimulation in manufacturing industries and may provide unparalleled business opportunities for manufacturing in an increasingly digital world.  Articles in Design News, Industry Week, Information Week and The Economist among others indicate the interest and potential for Digital Manufacturing to assist in creating new profitable business opportunities and jobs.

Digital manufacturing is a potential valuable contributor to the rebirth of manufacturing by utilizing available technologies to efficiently (in terms of cost, time & materials) manufacture products.  We need to work not only hard, but smart, to realize the potential benefits offered by digital manufacturing technologies.  

You may be asking: Exactly what is Digital Manufacturing? According to IMI President, Alvin Keene, “Digital Manufacturing is a collective term that encompasses numerous technologies utilized to produce products from digital files.  Examples of terms which we define as being various forms of digital manufacturing include 3D Printing, Additive Manufacturing, Rapid Prototyping, Rapid Manufacturing, Personal Manufacturing and Layered Manufacturing among others – all of which manufacture end products from a digital file using computer controlled devices in a primarily additive process – rather than subtractive processes typically utilized in traditional manufacturing (milling, machining, etc.).

Technologies currently being utilized for digital manufacturing include stereolithography, ink jet printing or deposition, selective laser sintering, fused deposition modeling, aerosol jet deposition, solid ground curing, laser engineered net shaping and ultrasonic consolidation among numerous others.

Digital Manufacturing is currently being utilized in a wide range of industries including aerospace, automotive, biomedical (dentistry, prosthetics, tissue, etc.), composites, construction, consumer goods, energy, jewelry, machine tool, military/defense and many others.  Manufacturers cite advantages and benefits such as the following for their implementation of Digital Manufacturing technologies:

•   Precision Individualized Products
•   Minimal Inventory Costs (Space, Overhead & Product Costs)
•   Materials Conservation (No or Minimal Machining/Finishing Waste)
•   Increased Design Flexibility
•   On-Demand Production
•   Time Savings (Design, Prototyping & Production)
•   Production of Products Not Conventionally Manufacturable (Complex
                    Shapes,  Internal Voids, Layered Structures, etc.)
•   Centralized Design & Remote or Distributed Manufacturing
•   & More!

IMI’s 1st Digital Manufacturing – Opportunities for Manufacturing Rebirth Conference will explore the current digital manufacturing technologies, application opportunities, challenges, needed improvements to enhance implementation, economics and other factors essential to the growth and expansion of Digital Manufacturing.”

IMI conference programs bring together delegates from diverse cross sections of the topic industry  and are designed to enable attendees to obtain the latest technical, market and application information while allowing time to network with other attendees in a time and cost efficient manner.  Conference participation will enable attendees to meet with the digital manufacturing industry’s leading experts in a single location over a short period of time thus maximizing information transfer efficiency and minimizing travel and time expenses.  IMI conferences also feature the opportunity for complimentary display space and five minute Suppliers’ Forum presentations.

IMI is actively working to complete the final speaker selections by April 11, 2011.  Proposed presentation titles and outlines (or suggestions for specific topics and/or speakers) should be submitted as soon as possible via email al@imiconf.com or fax (+1-207-235-2226) or phone (+1-207-235-2225).

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IMI sponsors conferences to assist in understanding technology developments, markets & applications. Since 1990, IMI has held over 500 programs attended by well over 40,000 technical, marketing and management personnel from worldwide companies.