Matthew Turnock, IVTS

And what a return it was. After four years, it was great to feel the buzz and witness extraordinary engineering technology in action once again at an exhibition. Real people, real machines (well except for the virtual ones) – it felt almost, surreal.

This year, MACH 2022 at NEC Birmingham welcomed over 25,000 visitors and 600+ exhibitors showcasing the latest developments in advanced engineering and manufacturing technologies, in one enormous venue. There was no doubt that this would be five-day event like no other – and it was.

Whatever the sector or area of business, there was something for everyone. For IVTS Ltd, its stand was in an ideal position to get a first-hand look at innovative vending solutions which included CRIBWISE, our software as a solution for the cutting tools industry.

NEC is a vast space, with room for almost every type of machine imaginable. What a treat to see so many people buzzing around the IVTS stand! Visitors were checking out the different storage solutions on offer and participating in live demos of our inventory management software.

We caught up with Matthew Turnock, part of the IVTS MACH team, who was on hand to provide insight into the importance of returning to this exhibition and what it meant for their business. He was enthusiastic about the response to the stand and the general enquiries they were getting for both the hardware vending solutions and our cloud-based tooling inventory software for the shop floor.

Matthew said: “Our vending machines are aimed at the industrial market, so MACH is a perfect fit to get our solutions in front of the right audience. We’ve had a lot of interest from potential new clients from both the high-end, enterprise type businesses, as well as smaller companies.”

With Mazak directly opposite the IVTS stand, drawing in big crowds, IVTS was also attracting crowds to understand how different storage solutions benefit the shop floor. Along with hardware from Autorib with the RoboCrib® series and Lista drawer cabinets, CRIBWISE was proudly on display.

Matthew said: “Having CRIBWISE on the stand has been great and the response from the demos that we have given has made it all worthwhile. Ultimately, visitors can see that CRIBWISE is the perfect brand agnostic tool, even though it’s a solution by Sandvik, it’s not just for Sandvik products. Visitors love the fact that they can import items directly from their Sandvik catalogue as well as choose from ToolsUnited, with nearly a million products from over 40 suppliers. It’s so efficient and cost-effective.”

Around the NEC, it was also thrilling to see children sporting Sandvik Coromant (another CRIBWISE partner) branded yellow book bags, who as sponsors of the Education & Development Zone for the fifth year, reinforced their commitment to closing the skills gap and enthusing young people about engineering as a career.

Kim Olander, marketing manager for the UK and Ireland at Sandvik Coromant explained: “Sandvik Coromant understands the importance of encouraging more young talent into engineering.”

“While we sponsor the E&D zone, we will be joined at the stand by exhibitors from Airbus Defence and Space, F1 in Schools, the University of Wolverhampton Racing Team and many others to demonstrate the breadth of opportunities within engineering.”

Matthew concluded: “It’s been our busiest MACH we’ve ever had which is what we had hoped for. It’s been a real credit to have CRIBWISE on the stand as this has really boosted the interest and we believe a collaboration with partners is worth considering for an exhibition of this size.”

Thanks IVTS! It’s a great partnership and we’re looking forward to growing our software as a service with you over the coming years.