The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2026 will feature an expanded conference program spanning nine events and more than 90 sessions, with new additions targeting industrial artificial intelligence, investors, and the Spanish-speaking manufacturing community. The show runs September 14–19 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
A Broader Educational Offering
Owned and produced by The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT), IMTS 2026 is set to draw more than 86,000 registrants and 1,800 exhibitors across 1.2 million square feet of exhibit space. Conferences will take place Monday through Thursday of the show week, each requiring separate registration that also grants full access to the exhibition halls.
“Conferences at IMTS give manufacturers actionable insights they can apply immediately to strengthen competitiveness and address pressing challenges,” said Bonnie Gurney, AMT’s vice president of strategic partnerships and industry relations. “They also create space for valuable connections with experts and peers across the industry.”
The flagship IMTS 2026 Conference alone comprises 69 sessions on topics ranging from automation and systems integration to metrology, tooling, and software. Session previews include discussions on model-based design for OEMs, in-spindle automation for lights-out manufacturing, vision AI for quality inspection, and the role of additive manufacturing (AM) in precision applications.
Conference by Conference
The nine events span a broad cross-section of the industry. On September 15, programming includes the half-day Job Shops Workshop (1–4:30 p.m.), the half-day Día de América Latina en IMTS for the Spanish-speaking manufacturing community, the AM+ Workshop focused on AM in aerospace and defense, and the all-day Investor Summit, which AMT describes as serving a manufacturing technology sector valued at an estimated $65 billion.
September 16 brings four additional events: the ELEVATE Conference, co-presented by AMT and the Women in Manufacturing Association (WiM); the Industrial Laser Conference, presented by the Laser Institute of America (LIA), covering applications from marking and cutting to AM and remote welding; an EBITDA Growth Systems session on entering defense, space, and aerospace supply chains; and the newly launched Industrial AI Conference.
Industrial AI Takes Centre Stage
The Industrial AI Conference, running all day on September 16, is designed for manufacturers seeking implementable outcomes for their operations. “We created the IMTS Industrial AI Conference to help manufacturers move beyond experimentation and understand where AI can deliver measurable business value,” said Ryan Kelly, AMT’s vice president of technology.
Featured keynote speaker Dr. Jay Lee, of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, will address what he describes as three recurring obstacles to AI adoption in manufacturing: locating usable data, selecting appropriate tools, and determining whether processing should occur at the edge or in the cloud. A featured case study will show how manufacturers can apply low-cost edge AI devices to monitor CNC machines using a stream-of-quality (SoQ) methodology.
Bridging the Gap Between AI Experimentation and Industrial Reality
The Industrial AI Conference reflects a deliberate shift in how IMTS is approaching the technology conversation. Rather than showcasing AI as an emerging possibility, AMT is framing the 2026 event around measurable deployment, what delivers results on the shop floor, and how manufacturers can identify the data, tools, and infrastructure needed to get there.
That challenge extends to AM. According to industry experts, the stages where AI stands to make the most difference are before and during production, catching defects early and adjusting print parameters on the fly, without relying on operator intervention. Looking ahead, forecasters expect AI-driven workflows and closed-loop quality systems to steadily reduce AM’s dependence on specialised expertise, broadening access to the technology at an industrial scale.
Efforts to accelerate that transition are already underway. America Makes recently awarded $2 million to the AIM-4AM initiative, which applies ML to material qualification for AM parts, targeting one of the most persistent bottlenecks in AM adoption by reducing reliance on extensive and costly physical testing. Industry experts project federated learning models could enable cross-site intelligence sharing without compromising IP, supporting applications such as defect prediction, drift detection, and faster qualification across production environments.
Where AI stands today in manufacturing is more about execution, and that is precisely the conversation IMTS 2026 is looking to have.
3D Printing Industry is inviting speakers for its 2026 Additive Manufacturing Applications (AMA) series, covering Energy, Healthcare, Automotive and Mobility, Aerospace, Space and Defense, and Software. Each online event focuses on real production deployments, qualification, and supply chain integration. Practitioners interested in contributing can complete the call for speakers form here.
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Featured image shows IMTS 2024 Conference. Photo via IMTS.
