The Olympics of the manufacturing industry is coming up as movers and shakers prepare to take over the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., for the annual National Manufacturing Week (NMW) trade show and conference.

With expositions running from Sept. 23-25 and conferences from Sept. 22-25, NMW is the industry's top showcasing event. Organized by Cannon Communications since 2006, NMW consists of Design Engineering, Plant Engineering, Industrial Automation and Enterprise IT pavilions.

This year’s event will house more than 2,000 suppliers across 400,000 square feet of exhibition space. There will also be endless networking opportunities as approximately 40,000 industry professionals from throughout the United States and the world convene.

Running concurrently will be Assembly Technology Expo, Electronics Assembly Show, Plastics USA/Plastec Midwest, Medical Design and Manufacturing Midwest, and the Green Manufacturing Expo.

With sustainability and environmental ethics on the tips of everyone’s tongues, one of the hottest destinations this year should be the Green Manufacturing Expo.

According to Cannon Communications, it will showcase a variety of tools for every facet of manufacturing operations, including energy management software, wastewater treatment equipment and processes, recyclable packaging and Earth-friendly materials. The Green Manufacturing: Business Strategies for Sustainability Conference will run concurrently, and it will address lean concepts, corporate social responsibility, waste-to-profit, design for environment, zero waste, and environmental sustainability through sessions and workshops.

Pamela J. Gordon will be the conference chair of the first two days. She is the founder of Technology Forecasters Inc., lead consultant for TFI Environment and author of Lean and Green: Profit for Your Workplace and the Environment.

“The conference makes participants 'change agents' by giving them tools to substantively reduce impact in financially and competitively advantageous ways,” she says.�