JIMTOF (Japan International Machine Tool Fair) is a specialized trade fair that showcases a wide range of Japan's industry-leading machine tools and associated products. JIMTOF is held in the autumn of every even-numbered year in Tokyo. This year marks the 26th staging of JIMTOF. Noted for its high repeat rate both among exhibitors and visitors, it has established itself as the pace-setting machine tool fair in the Asian region. JIMTOF 2012 will be a six-day event running from Thursday, November 1 to Tuesday, November 6 of this year. JIMTOF is famed as the place where you can evaluate the world's most advanced machine tool technologies under one roof. Besides Japan, it always has been widely-known in Europe and the United States. But in recent years, it has been becoming Asia's leading trade fair because of its ease of access. JIMTOF's site is extremely close to both Narita and Haneda, the two airports of the Tokyo metropolitan area. From Haneda it is particularly close, only 30 minutes or so. You can travel to and tour a world-class trade fair as if you were traveling into the countryside in your own country. And you'll have the satisfaction of having viewed the world's most advanced machine tools. For European and American users who are slated to visit Asia from the end of October to mid-November, JIMTOF is one option that will allow you to world-leading technologies experience at first-hand.
Capital investments into machine tools are heavily influenced by business trends in general. And these trends are even more prominent at trade fairs. For example, machine tool trade fairs flourished from 2004 to 2007, reflecting the general prosperity of the times. But the year 2008 marked a turning point. Battered by the global financial crisis of 2008, trade fairs diminished in size one after the other. On the other hand, those fairs that are "must view" or "pace-setting" trade fairs are widely viewed as being largely immune to downturns. The chart at the left shows the trend in the size of JIMTOF over the past ten years. As you can see for yourself, the downturn of 2008 was limited. Still, some of you may ask why the size of the fair hasn't increased markedly during boom times. As a matter of fact, with the exception of 2008, demand for exhibition space at Tokyo Big Sight has risen year by year at recent JIMTOF fairs. Tokyo Big Sight has the biggest exhibition grounds in Japan. Yet JIMTOF is so popular that it occupies the grounds completely. There's simply no space left over. JIMTOF 2012 has applications for a total of about 52,500㎡ of exhibition space. The organizers make adjustments to space for booths because of the need to accommodate as many as possible within the site. As a result, booths occupy 45,738㎡ of the site (as of the end of June). JIMTOF may be viewed as a kind of gatekeeper. Only the select few can exhibit at JIMTOF. This is why the level of the fair keeps rising. Those who succeed in getting a booth for exhibits tend to gain a certain status.
Most manufacturers conduct their product development with the intention of unveiling their results at JIMTOF. This means it is the place where you can get a preview of the world's most advanced products. At this stage, details of the products to be exhibited are still vague. However, you certainly can expect multi-axis control machining centers and compound machining centers. These are types that feature high-efficiency and high-precision processing. There will be ultra-precision and super-precision machining equipment as well as machines with user-pleasing functions such as augmented thermal displacement correction and enhanced safety. There also will be machines with energy-saving and eco-friendly features as well as machines with spacesaving and cost-cutting features. All of these are areas in which Japanese manufacturers have always been very good. And JIMTOF is the one place where they all will be on display under one roof. At JIMTOF you can also view reasonably price entry-level machines that are equipped with enough features for ordinary machining. Besides, JIMTOF offers more than just machine tools. It's an event where you can get the big picture of world-class products in related areas, like applications, tools, and measuring equipment. Asia is the scene of many machine tool trade fairs. Some are even bigger in terms of size than JIMTOF. But none can top JIMTOF in terms of exhibition level or advanced content.
You can easily sense the excitement exhibitors feel about JIMTOF. At JIMTOF, it is common for users to enter into business talks with exhibitors after viewing machines well suited to their facilities. You can compare companies' ordinary products at almost any trade fair. But JIMTOF is one of the few venues where manufacturers are serious about unveiling products featuring their latest technological advances, and visitors can evaluate a wide range of highly competitive, cuttingedge products. For visitors, JIMTOF is the place where they can confidently narrow down competitive offerings and settle on those products best suited to their facilities. Even if you aren't planning on introducing new equipment for the time being, JIMTOF will keep you updated on the technological waves and trends of the future. That's why it is a must-see fair for competitive users. With competition heating up under today's global economy, one of the keys to staying ahead of your competitors is to introduce superior equipment at the right time. JIMTOF is the specialized trade fair where you can gather the news and data that fit your company’s capital investment programs as well as information on leading-edge machine tools. The previous time JIMTOF was staged, in 2010, was before economic recovery had gotten under way. Even so, JIMTOF 2010 attracted 115,000 visitors from Japan and abroad. And according to a questionnaire directed at visitors, more than 90% were satisfied with the event and its content. This testifies to the appeal generated by the advanced level of the event. In recent years, JIMTOF's international aspect has gained additional prominence. Leadingedge users from neighboring Asian countries and regions with strong growth have been attracted to JIMTOF in increasing numbers. And JIMTOF is responding. Focusing on rigorous user needs, JIMTOF is strengthening its presence as Asia's pace-setting machine tool trade fair by highlighting carefully selected products that feature competitive-edge products. JIMTOF 2012 will be a six-day event running from Thursday, November 1 to Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Preliminary registration for attending JIMTOF 2012 will be accepted on JIMTOF's official website (http://www.jimtof.org/eng/index.aspx) starting September 3. This year, JIMTOF 2012 is guaranteed to heat up Tokyo's autumn more than ever.