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Turn Los Angeles Convention Center into Manufacturers' Paradise

21 March 2000

Workforce Development Conferences, Machine Tools, Robotics and Contract Manufacturers Turn Los Angeles Convention Center into Manufacturers' Paradise at SME's WESTEC 2000, March 20 - 23

    LOS ANGELES, March 20 For West Coast manufacturers in
search of the latest resources, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers' WESTEC
2000 manufacturing exposition and conference provides a hands-on, up-close and
personal opportunity to see, compare and learn about the latest metalworking
and manufacturing equipment, services and technical information.
    Opening today at the Los Angeles Convention Center, North America's
largest annual metalworking and manufacturing exposition and conference fills
the South, West and Kentia Halls with 840 machine tool builders, regional
distributors, contract manufacturers, and other exhibitors displaying and
demonstrating the latest machine tools, metalworking technologies and
manufacturing processes.  More than 340 companies will unveil a total of 750
new products or services.  The expected 35,000 manufacturing professionals
visiting the show can see equipment from more than 150 technology categories
representing 2,500 international product lines.  Show hours on March 20-22 are
8 a.m. - 6 p.m., and on March 23, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
    Accompanying the WESTEC exposition, special conference events will:
address workforce development issues for California's metalworking industries;
provide job opportunities for current manufacturing practitioners; and explore
various manufacturing processes and technologies.  In addition, special
student events give high school and college students a first-hand chance to
learn about manufacturing careers through special seminars and a tour of the
WESTEC show floor.
    WESTEC is sponsored by SME, rated in the Tradeshow Week Data Book as a top
10 tradeshow producer, the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association
(AMTDA), and AMT -- The Association for Manufacturing Technology.  WESTEC is
part of the Advanced Productivity Exposition (APEX) Series produced by SME.
APEX events bring together builders, distributors and users of machine tools
and metalworking equipment in key U.S. manufacturing centers.
    SME, headquartered in Dearborn, Mich., is the world's leading professional
society serving the manufacturing industries.  Through its publications,
expositions, professional development resources and member programs, SME
influences more than 500,000 manufacturing executives, managers and engineers.
Founded in 1932, SME has some 60,000 members in 70 countries and supports a
network of hundreds of chapters worldwide.