Every year I go to the big design and manufacturing show, MD&M West, in Anaheim, California, I realize they have changed the name again, and I really don’t remember how many times I’ve been to this show. Both the changes and the booths have been a lot. It is a popular show for one simple reason. The right people show up, and we make good connections.
One reason why it is a good event is that it combines many different trade shows into one. IME West was a good name last year, because it stood for Informa Markets Engineering West, with Informa Markets being the company that puts it on. But it seems everyone called it MD&M west becuase the largest area in the show was the Medical Device & Manufacturing part. I’m old, so I still call it the Pacific Design Show.
Anyhow, enough with the names. This year, the different “Sectors” were:
- MD&M Design & Manufacturing
- MD&M Packaging (PACK)
- MD&M Medtech (MD&M)
- MD&M Plastics
- MD&M Quality
- MD&M Processing
- MD&M Automation (ATX)
And PADT was in the Design and Manufacturing area, close to the Medtech section. We focused mostly on simulation, with some 3D Printing and product development materials. About half of the people stopped by to talk about simulation, and the rest were split pretty evenly between design and 3D Printing.
This Year’s Trends at MD&M West 2026
Besides the great booth traffic and visiting other people in other booths, the show is valuable because you get to see some trends firsthand. I walked away with three observation worth sharing:
1: AI is transitioning to useful for engineering
I saw a lot going on in what is being called Physical AI – putting AI into smart devices. But also AI tools for engineers to help with Engineering. The best one I saw was Bananaz. They call it an engineering “copilot.” My take on it is that it is an engineering assistant. An LLM chatbot focused on helping with Design. The demo is impressive. It helps with drawing checks, tolerancing, brainstorming, and all sorts of things.
I also met a person from a startup working to do the same sort of thing for simulation, and they work with Ansys. I’m going to learn more about this and watch it closely.
Bottom line: AI is not on its way for simulation, design, and manufacturing. Useful tools are here now.
2: The Europeans didn’t show up in force.
I could be jumping to conclusions, but I did back this up with a discusion with someone who works in the engineering trade show industry. Most of the empty booths I walked past had the names of European companies on them. On top of that, and this is VERY unscientific, we put out real German gummy bears for our candy giveaway, and I usually get 2 or 3 Europeans an hour stopping by to get some. Very, very few this time.
I’m not sure what that means long-term. It could be a response to tariffs, it might point to how building partnerships with European companies may be more difficult, and it may point to European companies building their own capabilities rather than outsourcing to US firms.
3: Business momentum is building
The great pause of 2025 is ending. A common question at these events is, “How is business?” The most common answer this year was “picking up.” And when I asked more, many said they also experienced the “wait” response from customers in 2024 and most of 2025. But now things seem to be moving forward.
See You Next Year at MD&M West 2027… Even if they Change The Name Again
We have a booth reserved for next year and hope to see you there. If you have not been and have any questions, reach out, and I’m happy to answer them. It is a good show, especially if you prepare properly and make use of the apps they make available to find people.
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