Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles. WESTEC 2009 will feature over 260 new products and nearly 500 industry leading exhibitors from advanced machine tools, cutting tools and accessories, manufacturing applications, emerging technologies along with highly skilled manufacturing professionals that will provide aggressive ideas and the latest trends. 

Show hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday.

Some Highlights include:

SME & NIST/MEP Announcement of New Competitive Manufacturing Toolkit (March 31, 9:30 a.m., WESTEC Technology Theater, Booth 2558). Manufacturing is vital to America's future and to reversing the economic crisis.  It is the primary source of our nation's wealth.  No other segment of our economy can combine things in a way that the value of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This collaborative "Competitive Manufacturing Toolkit" will benefit all manufacturing by bringing a systems integration approach to leadership, problem-solving and many other areas of manufacturing.

Technology Theater (March 30 - April 2, South Hall). All sessions in the Technology Theater are FREE to WESTEC attendees. Programming will be a combination of live speaker presentations and video screenings of highly acclaimed films on topics aligned with a specific industry.  Scheduled topics include:

Automotive After-Market Industry Day (March 30)

• Applications for Advanced Abrasive Waterjet Cutting Systems in the Automotive Industry
• Affordable Automation for Small and Medium Facilities
• Green Lean
• Lean Automation

Aerospace Industry Day (March 31)

• Technologies for High Accuracy Machining and Flawless Part Program Verification
• Accurate, Reliable and Safe, Yet Still Misunderstood - EDM's Role in Aerospace & Defense
• Forming Reality: The Role of Incremental Simulation from Part Concept to Production
• Composite Tooling Design
  

 Medical Industry Day (April 1)

• Medical Applications of Rapid Prototyping
• Latest Developments in Medical Applications of Rapid Technologies
• Dentistry in 3D: A New Virtual World of Design and Manufacturing

 Workforce Development Day (April 2)

• Developing California's 21st Century Workforce
• CA-Employment Training Panel: A Valuable Resource in Tough Times
• Excellence in Manufacturing Education
• Innovate: Engineering Change
• Bold Visions: Women in Science & Technology