Sparking interest, powering growth: Manufacturing tech show fills Big E – MassLive

Kris Klein, market manager at Linde, shows the Prostar Lancer series of CNC cutting systems at The Big E during the Manufacturing Technology Series exhibition Tuesday. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
WEST SPRINGFIELD — A robot worked away, sorting and stacking tubes of lip balm Tuesday before an appreciative crowd at the Manufacturing Technology Series East 2025 trade show taking over The Big E this week.
The movements were meant to mimic industrial applications on a factory floor, said Kyle Richard, vice president of business development for Elm Electrical in Westfield, which sells and installs systems like this for automation-hungry manufacturers.
But the robot comes from Japan and might be subject to a 24% tariff in July under the Trump administration’s new trade policy. It adds up quickly when the machine costs $30,000, Richard said.
But companies are still interested in new technology.
“Because that’s how you deal with the workforce issues,” he said.
Central High School student, 18-year-old Qwamaine Taylor, right, listens to Hermle Marketing Manager Jeremy Williamson explain Hermle milling and CNC machines during the Manufacturing Technology Series exhibition Tuesday at The Big E. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Topics like trade, developing a new workforce in an industry with aging demographics, new markets in medical devices, aerospace, as well as labor-saving technology, including digital manufacturing and artificial intelligence, were all top of mind at the show.
“Manufacturing likes consistency,” said Dave Morton, nonprofit SME’s group director of the Manufacturing Technology Series. “Manufacturing likes predictability.”
SME's Dave Morton, chief of the Manufacturing Technology Series, in West Springfield on The Big E grounds. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
SME expected to welcome 500 exhibiting companies and 10,000 or more attendees to the Eastern States Exposition Grounds today, Wednesday and Thursday.
Machines, some costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, filled the 129,000-square-foot Mallary Complex, which is used for livestock shows during the annual Big E fair. Manufacturing Technology Series exhibitors filled the Better Living Center, Young and Stroh buildings, and outdoor spaces, too.
Some of the highlights on display: A plasma cutter that reached a temperature of 50,000 degrees, cutting metal. There were high-tech vacuum cleaners, too.
One vendor explained to high school students how their company made parts for the new all-electric 2025 Volkswagen ID. Buzz van.
Brian Such, president and COO of Marubeni Citizen-Cincom, explains the benefits of autonomous machines. Here he demonstrates the CNC Swiss machine during the Manufacturing Technology Series exhibition in West Springfield. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
The show, which happens every other year, formerly was called Eastec. Eastec began in 1981 as the Hartford Tool Show. SME first brought it to West Springfield, because the Whalers made the NHL playoffs that year, and the tool show couldn’t take over what was then called the Civic Center.
Today, it thrives, servicing the network of small manufacturers that fanned out from the once-bustling Springfield Armory and grew with the help of Pioneer Valley colleges and universities, and the local workforce.
“This is important geography for us,” Morton said.
The crowd included more than 100 high school students from the Springfield area, participating in the Bright Minds Student Summit.
The students went from booth to booth, learning about products and technologies, and taking short quizzes.
In fact, for at least one student, what started off as just a field trip for the day began to pique an interest.
“To come here and see all this technology is interesting,” said Maysin Whitehead, a 10th grader from Springfield Central High School. Engineering fascinated him, he said.
Central High School student Qwamaine Taylor, 18, left, and Maysin Whitehead, 15, listen to Jeremy Williamson explain the product line from Hermle during the Manufacturing Technology Series exhibition. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
It’s hard to attract young people into manufacturing. That’s one reason companies push hands-free technology, replacing the need for workers with automation.
Brian Such, president and COO of Marubeni Citizen-Cincom, a manufacturer and retailer of highly precise CNC machines with a local office in Agawam, held a freshly made stainless steel screw in his hand.
The machine takes feed stock, or a raw material, that’s yards long and gradually transforms it into small, identical products. Marubeni Citizen-Cincom’s local customers includes Smith & Wesson.
The finished screw is about inch-and-a-half long and about an eighth of an inch across, with a hole up the middle. It’s a surgical screw that would be used to fasten human bone.
“It has to be perfect. It has to be pretty,” said Such. “Because it is going to fix you.”
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