Revitalizing Aging Machine Tools: A Repeatable Modernization Methodology at IMTS 2026

Manufacturers across industries face a stubborn reality: critical machine tools often outlast their controls. That gap creates compounding risks — obsolescence, safety compliance issues, and workforce skills gaps — while replacing entire manufacturing lines remains costly and disruptive. A session at the IMTS 2026 Conference aims to show there's a better path.

Scheduled for September 14 at 3:15 P.M. in IMTS13 Room W192-A, the presentation focuses on modernizing essential manufacturing assets rather than scrapping them.

A Methodology Built for the Shop Floor

The session outlines a repeatable methodology for revitalizing assets through three levers: control upgrades, mechanical simplification, and operator-centric design. The payoff is practical. Modernization of machine tools can improve performance, accelerate processes, and provide future-ready capabilities — without the capital hit of full line replacement.

Just as important, the approach improves maintainability, accelerates training, integrates safety standards, and prepares equipment for digital analytics and AI. In an era where data readiness increasingly defines competitiveness, that last point matters.

Proof in Recent Retrofit Projects

This isn't theory. Recent projects have transformed legacy grinding and machining systems with state-of-the-art CNC platforms, servo technology, and safety enhancements. Critically, modernization was achieved with minimal machine downtime and under tight timelines and budget constraints — the two objections that most often kill retrofit proposals.

The Engineer Behind the Session

Rob Snodgrass, Senior Application Engineer at Fives' High Precision Machines Division, brings over a decade of hands-on engineering expertise in high-precision machining solutions. His background includes roles as Staff Engineer in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering at Kennametal and Application Engineer at Ingersoll Machine Tools. He is known for rapid problem diagnosis, sustainable process development, and strategic improvements in productivity and operational efficiency.

Broad Applicability

The methodology applies broadly from energy to aerospace sectors, where high-value machine tools are mission-critical. For shops weighing repair-versus-replace decisions, this session offers a framework grounded in executed work.