The IMTS (International Machine Tool Show) is a bi-annual gathering held in Chicago. All the major machine tool builders strive to attend, and to bring their latest technology to showcase. This show had its birth in the 20’s, but not in Chicago; that didn’t happen until 1947. It was an important event that helped manufacturers gain recognition and drive sales. It was also a very expensive undertaking that required months of planning. The first thing we had to do was to determine just what machinery we were to show; then draw up a floor plan as to how we wanted to display them. We then had to contact the IMTS Show Committee in Chicago to rent the necessary floor space. I’m not sure if they determined where we would be located, and in which building or floor, but eventually we were given a “time slot” as to when our trucks had to be in Chicago for unloading. Because the show was held in several buildings (and not all in the same location), the IMTS planning board worked closely with the local Chicago “riggers” (those people who did the actual moving of all machinery). The machinery had to be unloaded in a certain sequence in order to fill each building from back to front. If you missed your time slot, it meant extra work to move your machine past spots already filled. These riggers were all strongly unionized, and did not take kindly to tardy arrivals (read extra $$$). I was not involved in any of the planning of these events, and only toward the end of my time at J&L did I attend the show (in 1982, 1984 and 1986).

Jones as well as the other local shops, had been attending these shows for years. We actually exhibited the very first NC lathe there, back in 1955. I remember some of the older engineers talking about the excitement that it created (they actually nicknamed the machine “Herbert”). But that was before my time in the business.

During the heyday of the TNC product line, J&L was a big presence at these shows. We had elaborate displays highlighting our machinery, and of course we hired our share of pretty models to help. Our sales staff were suited up properly, and we had all the necessary sales brochures to hand out to perspective customers. Wining and dining were the order of the day, and Chicago was the town to do it in.

But as the years went by, it was evident that our overseas competition was gaining ground. There were more and more foreign machine displays every time I attended the show. I do know that we were told that we were entering into an era of “Global Competition”, but it seems to me that the deck was being stacked against U.S. manufacturing by special interest groups who were successful in getting some of our fundamental laws rewritten to benefit them. As a result, our manufacturing base in this country has declined to a dangerous level; good paying jobs are scarce; we have killed the goose that laid the Golden Egg (the American worker, who made good money, and spent it on American goods).