Dimide at Fabtech 2016
Once we had a clamp that our welders described as "kick-ass", we felt that it was unfair to keep it a secret. We had a clamp and a team of engineers and fabricators none of which had any experience in marketing. We never gave thought to how companies got their products in front of our eyes, we just accepted that they did and went on looking at the quality of production and design. At least we hadn't until we realized that the Dimide Clamp wasn't going to simply introduce itself to the world. So now we had to figure how to best introduce our "kick-ass" clamp to the world.
As fabricators and engineers, we knew we had to go to one place, Fabtech. Fabtech is one of the premier fabrication expos in the world with over 30,000 attendees. It is where all the best fabrication suppliers and manufacturers come together in one location to show off their best "toys" for the industry.
It was all of our teams first Fabtech and we were excited not only to introduce the clamp to the world but to also meet all the other fabricators. We had all of our sample clamps and impact wrenches packed up and headed to Vegas with the excitement everyone normally has while headed to Vegas, except we weren't going for the purpose of gambling or partying.
Dimide's Booth and Team at Fabtech 2016
While setting up our small booth we got to walk around the halls while everyone was setting up and see all the fancy new fabrication tools of the industry. Surrounded by robots, servo presses, 3D printers, massive steel rollers and more the anticipation for the expo was starting to build and we couldn't wait to start meeting all the attendees.
Robotics at Fabtech 2016
Day one of the expo had finally come and we were pumped up after listening to Sugar Ray Leonard's keynote. We hurried back to our booth and the attendees started coming by. All the anxiety of not having any visitors quickly surpassed as groups circled around as we demonstrated our clamp. There isn't much better than seeing the smile on someones face as you grab the impact wrench and tighten down the clamp to over 5,000 lbs and just hear "Wow, that's fast" or "Now that's an immediate solution". We also held a clamp tightening competition where we had a load cell set up with a Dimide Clamp and a ratchet and challenged anyone to come by and tighten the clamp as much as possible. With two of us counter-balancing challengers as they threw their entire bodies into tightening down the clamp. The winner delivered a staggering 5,200 lbs of clamp load and then proclaimed "I know any other clamp would have broke if I did that to it."
Demoing the Dimide Clamp at Fabtech 2016
By the end of the expo, we had gathered over 400 leads, met countless fabricators, had a ton of fun and further reinforced that we were onto something great. We now are looking forward to exhibiting at Fabtech2017
With Fabtech 2016 over, we are looking forward to Fabtech 2017 in Chicago from November 6-9. If you're coming to Fabtech, stop by booth #B28084 and come meet us!