SME SOUTH-TEC Expands Show Floor for Greenville, SC, Expo
Dearborn, MI (PRWEB) September 23, 2013 -- SOUTH-TEC, SME’s premier manufacturing industry showcase in the Southeast for innovation, knowledge and relationships, has expanded its show floor to accommodate demand for more exhibit space at its Oct. 29-31 expo in Greenville, SC.
More than 300 companies will populate the SOUTH-TEC floor at Greenville’s TD Center to showcase a dynamic and invigorating mix of product demonstrations and interactive exhibits before an expected 4,000 attendees.
South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham sees this year’s SOUTH-TEC as recognition of the burgeoning strength of manufacturing in the region.
"The Southeast -- and South Carolina specifically – is one of the fastest-growing manufacturing regions in the United States. We are proud SME SOUTH-TEC has recognized this by choosing Greenville to showcase manufacturing progress and technology innovation," Sen. Graham said. "Greenville, and the surrounding areas, are distinctive in their advanced manufacturing leadership that benefits countries across the globe through trade and raises per-capita income in South Carolina."
The trade show floor features tactical and strategic sessions in the new Additive Manufacturing/3D Printing Resource Center. Additive manufacturing is a process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model instead of removing material through machining. Parts representing major technologies, including stereolithography, laser sintering and fused deposition modeling, will be on display.
Because additive manufacturing has become increasingly important in manufacturing, an Additive Manufacturing Certificate Program will be offered alongside SOUTH-TEC. SME, in cooperation with the Milwaukee School of Engineering and the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, has established a team of advisors who have strategically defined the additive manufacturing body of knowledge. This body of knowledge will serve as the basis for the review course and exam. Details and registration for the certificate program can be found at http://www.southteconline.com/2013/public/Content.aspx?ID=3067&sortMenu=104004.
Featured presentations include:
• Dr. Gary Green, President of Forsyth Technical College in Winston-Salem, will lead a discussion of the importance of a strong network among industry, educators, government, and community colleges to address the critical need to "up-skill" current and future workers in the manufacturing industry, preparing them for high-tech manufacturing jobs. Jeff Hunt, Spartanburg Community College, Susan Pretulak, ReadySC and Pam Howze from Siemens will be among the panelists.
• A panel, moderated by Bill Donohue of GENEDGE Alliance (part of the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership), will address optimizing global supply chain performance. Guillaume Giroudon of Volvo Group Truck Operations, Bryan Dods of GE Power and Water and Barry Bell from Mahle Group will share how their companies are synchronizing their supply and value chains to create more dynamic overall performance.
• Paddy Fleming, defense manufacturing specialist from MilTECH, provides an overview of contractor qualifications required by the Department of Defense. Also covered is how SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research) can help fund product development work within your company.
SOUTH-TEC defines the way forward with Lunch-and-Learn presentations.
• Greenleaf will focus on cutting-tool advancements for machining heat-resistant super alloy materials, including advanced ceramic and carbide tools on such difficult-to-machine metal such as Inconel, Waspaloy and Rene.
• PLEX Systems will discuss the changing landscape of supply chain, burdened by regulation, quality and compliance issues. Tim Van Zee of Quatro Composites explains how his company uses cloud ERP to manage its entire operation in a paperless environment.
"SME SOUTH-TEC will provide attendees thousands of square feet of opportunity, bursting with a full spectrum of knowledge, innovation, training and learning," Dennis Bray, CEO of Contour Precision Group, LLC of Clover, SC, and president of SME, said. "Experts on manufacturing technology will share knowledge about advanced techniques, productivity, new technologies and skilled workforce to representatives of industry, innovation, government and education."
About SME
SME connects all those who are passionate about making things that improve our world. As a nonprofit organization, SME has served practitioners, companies, educators, government and communities across the manufacturing spectrum for more than 80 years. Through its strategic areas of events, media, membership, training and development, and the SME Education Foundation, SME shares knowledge to advance manufacturing. At SME, we are making the future. Together. More information is available at SME.
Reed Byrum, SME Contact, http://southteconline.com, +1 8645677468, [email protected]
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