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San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Valley Manufacturers Prepare to Show Wares

At the Chatsworth facility of Fadal Machine Centers, employees ready some of the company’s products for view at this year’s Westec trade show for the machine tool industry. Along with equipment of interest to machine shops, Fadal will demonstrate equipment that cuts metal to create parts used in the aerospace, medical and automotive sectors. “We’ll take our standard machines with a range of power to cut metal at low (revolutions per minute) but can also cut aluminum at a high rpm,” said Dan Gustafson, marketing manager with Fadal. “We primarily look at the application needs of the immediate area and we address those.” Fadal is just one of many San Fernando Valley companies taking part in the trade show that begins March 27 at the Los Angeles Convention Center and is sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. New this year is making the 44th annual trade show just one part of a larger event dubbed the Total Manufacturing Experience highlighting the association’s education programs, awards banquet and other programs. “We wanted to bring more of an emphasis to Westec,” said Gary Mikola, director of expositions for the SME. “For 43 years we’ve been a traditional machine tool trade show and this is a way to bring more diverse appeal to the Southern California manufacturing community.” The event will include conferences on micro- and nano-manufacturing; the Westec Challenge featuring projects designed by university and college students with the winner given an award by Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin; and a speech to educators by space shuttle astronaut Sally Ride on the importance of manufacturing. For Valley companies, the main attraction of the trade show is to promote their products and perhaps bring in new customers. At the 2005 Westec, Fadal sold 36 machines and anticipates selling just as many at this year’s show, Gustafson said. Hybrid Systems Corp., a manufacturer of industrial controls and induction heating machines, will have a booth at the expo for the first time since 2002, said David Garakanin, who founded the company along with his partner Levik Kodaverdian in 1985. Glendale-based Hybrid will demonstrate the second generation of their induction heating device at the show, Garakanin said. “We’re looking to get some national or even international distributorship,” Garakanin said. “This is a product with approximately four years of life with well known users.” Bill Gibbs, founder and president of Gibbs and Associates, which makes software used by machine shops, called the trade show a good place to be seen and meet prospective clients. “We’ll generate leads for new sales and it helps keep us visible to people who are buying our products,” Gibbs said. But Gibbs said there has been a drop in attendance at the show since he started going over 20 years ago to the point where Westec is more of a regional event rather than a national one. SME’s Mikola said that this year’s show is setting aside more exhibitor space than it did last year and has about 20,000 attendees pre-registered. “Manufacturing, whether in California or across the country, continues to go through changes and there’s no denying the industry is getting smaller,” Mikola said. “The challenge is getting on people’s agendas and have them find the time to attend and convince them they have the need to go.”

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