JTE Machines participated in the annual IFAI Expo which ran from September 26-29th in New Orleans, LA. The IFAI Expo which offers industry members the opportunity to interact with one another amongst product demonstrations and educational panels, offered something new this year: the opportunity for all manufacturers to come together for charity.
The IFAI introduced as a new addition to the expo this year, Manufacturing for Good, which is a live manufacturing experience that demonstrates the making of a duffel bag from start to finish. These duffel bags had a special final destination: Raintree Children & Family Services, which is a nonprofit organization that assists at-risk children and youth in New Orleans and its surrounding areas.
This event, which acted as a pop-up factory, highlighted machines from nine different manufacturers who all played a part in the construction of the duffel bags. JTE Machines was able to showcase their tabletop automatic PVC grommet punch and weld machine as they were in charge of installing the grommets on the duffel bags allowing for colorful name tags to be attached. While live demonstrations occur at every trade show, the products typically created are discarded at the end of the show. Not this time. 70 duffel bags were created as a result of the efforts of JTE and the other manufacturers. These duffel bags will be put to good use by the youth at Raintree Children & Family Services!
The rest of the Expo was just as exciting. Over the next four days JTE met with hundreds of companies in need of fabric welding, cutting, and automation solutions to increase productivity within their shops. These solutions often enable them to replace their scarce resource sewing operations with easy to use RF and Ultrasonic welding machines that can be operated by anyone. JTE also participated as a panelist in the “Choosing a Welder” seminar and conducted a “Welding Machine Safety and Maintenance” workshop which took place on the show floor! Traci Evling, (Managing Director of JTE Machines) commented, “Thank you to all of the visitors who stopped by the booth and attended these seminars- we look forward to seeing you again in Dallas next year or sooner at your own facility!”
To learn more, visit the JTE Machines website which has just been re-designed, and was debuted at the Expo!
