What We Learned at IMTS 2026: Additive Manufacturing Is Ready for the Machine Shop

This year was 3DChimera’s first time exhibiting at IMTS, and while we knew it was going to be a big show, I don’t think we were fully prepared for just how big it would be. The sheer number of people who came through the show (and through our booth!!) was beyond anything we could have imagined. We literally had to print additional SWAG live at the how and refill our candy jars with more than one overnight Amazon Prime delivery =)

More importantly, we learned a lot.

Machine Shops Are Closer to Additive Than We Thought

One of the biggest surprises was how many traditional manufacturers had already experimented with additive manufacturing. In many cases, they had bought a printer, tried incorporating it into their workflow, and gotten burned somewhere along the way.

Sometimes the process was too complicated or required too much babysitting. In other cases, they were simply using materials or print parameters that weren’t up to the job. A fixture, bracket, gripper, or other functional component broke, flexed, warped, or wore out, and understandably they came away thinking 3D printing just wasn't ready for their application.

What we saw at IMTS was that, in many cases, that conclusion deserves another look.

We brought real manufacturing examples printed in Fiberthree glass- and carbon-fiber-reinforced engineering materials, and once people got those parts in their hands, the conversation changed almost immediately. They would pick them up, squeeze them, try to bend them, look at the geometry and ask some version of:

“Wait…you printed this?”

That might have been my favorite reaction of the entire show.

Because additive isn't going to replace the machine shop, and that was never really the point. The opportunity is figuring out where additive makes the machine shop better: fixtures, soft jaws, robotic grippers, end-of-arm tooling, parts trays, inspection fixtures, replacement components, and all of those weird one-off problems that otherwise consume valuable machining time.

Meeting Customers Wherever They Are

Maybe our biggest takeaway was that there isn't one path to adopting additive manufacturing. We need to meet customers wherever they are in their additive journey.

For some manufacturers, they already have a capable printer sitting on the shop floor and simply need help getting better results. The answer might be a better material, improved print parameters, or identifying applications where the technology actually makes sense.

For others, what resonated was the promise of a true turnkey solution: working with the 3DChimera engineering team to understand the application, select the right technology and materials, develop the process, train their team, and take as much of the risk as possible out of adopting a new technology.

That reinforced something we've believed for a long time: our job isn't really to sell somebody a 3D printer. It's to help them solve a manufacturing problem. The amount of help required to get there is going to be different for every customer.

Introducing AMOS

Another major highlight was introducing the AMOS 3D printer from Chicago Additive.

AMOS was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Navy and is built in the United States, and 3DChimera is proud to be Chicago Additive's first commercial partner.

We knew the machine would generate interest, but we underestimated just how much. It was particularly popular with manufacturers working in defense and the military supply chain, where U.S.-made manufacturing technology can be an important consideration when pursuing new programs and contracts.

It gave us a chance to introduce customers to an industrial additive platform designed and built here in the United States, and opened up some very interesting conversations.

Additive, Automation, and Industrial AI

Automation and industrial AI were everywhere at IMTS, and we were excited to be right in the middle of it.

We showcased some of the newest capabilities from SOLIDWORKS alongside applications involving custom robotic grippers, end-of-arm tooling, and parts trays for automated manufacturing. Our work with Agile Robots on robotic gripper design was particularly well received.

This is an area where additive makes enormous sense. Automation creates custom problems: different parts, geometries, machines, and interfaces that all need to work together. Additive gives us the ability to design directly around those problems and quickly produce lightweight, complex tooling without being constrained by how we would traditionally machine it.

The same goes for AI. There is plenty of hype around the term right now, but manufacturers ultimately care about something much simpler: Does this help me make something better, faster, or with less friction?

That's the standard we think should apply to all of this technology.

A Pretty Cool IMTS Surprise

There was also one completely unexpected highlight.

While walking through the AMT Members Lounge, I suddenly found myself staring at…myself.

3DChimera had been featured as part of AMT's Level Up Series, and apparently that meant a life-size version of me was now decorating the lounge at IMTS.

Naturally, I had to take a picture with him.

It was funny,a little surreal, and also pretty cool to see 3DChimera highlighted like that at our first IMTS as an exhibitor.

Watch our Level Up Series video

Something Is Happening in American Manufacturing

One of our biggest takeaways from IMTS had nothing to do with any individual machine or technology. There was an incredible amount of energy in that building.

Talking with other exhibitors, partners, customers, and manufacturers, we heard repeatedly that this was an exceptionally strong IMTS and, for many of them, one of the strongest manufacturing shows they had experienced in years.

What excited us most was seeing so many technologies beginning to converge: additive, automation, robotics, scanning, CAD, AI, and traditional manufacturing.

Scan the problem. Design the solution. Make the part. Automate the process.

That's the world 3DChimera has been building toward for years.

After our first IMTS as an exhibitor, we're coming home with a lot of follow-ups, a bunch of new ideas, and maybe a little less of a voice than we arrived with. But more than anything, we're coming home convinced that additive manufacturing has a much bigger role to play on the traditional manufacturing floor than most people realize.

Our job is to help manufacturers figure out where it makes sense, and then meet them wherever they are on the journey to get there.

See IMTS Through Our Eyes

Want to see what the show looked like from our side of the booth? We put together a short video from the week with some of our favorite technology, applications, and moments from IMTS 2026.