Why CNC and Robotics Buyers Should Stop at FANUC's Booth at IMTS 2026

TL;DR

4 things to know before IMTS

1. Booth 338900, South Building — FANUC moves to a front-row South Building position at IMTS 2026 with expanded demo space for CNC, robotics, and Physical AI.
2. Three buyer conversations in one stop: first cobot deployment (CRX series), CNC/ROBODRILL machine tending, and adaptive production lines with vision-guided robotics.
3. Exclusive floor signal: FANUC partners with ORNL and Mazak in AMT's Emerging Technology Center on a live drone-airframe manufacturing cell you won't see on fanucamerica.com alone.
4. Best for plant managers, automation engineers, and automotive buyers — less relevant if you're only sourcing pure software/ERP with no hardware integration path.

At a glance

FANUC Corporation at a Glance

Company read

What FANUC actually brings to IMTS 2026

Not a single-product vendor. FANUC is one of the few exhibitors at IMTS where CNC controls, industrial robots, compact machining centers, and connected production data share the same engineering DNA.

FANUC CORPORATION supplies CNC systems, industrial robots, and factory automation equipment worldwide through FANUC America. With millions of CNC controls and more than one million robots installed globally, the company sits at the intersection of metalcutting, assembly automation, and connected production data. That footprint matters at IMTS 2026, where buyers arrive expecting to compare full-stack automation vendors rather than single-product demos.

For this edition of the show, FANUC expands its South Building presence to connect three buyer conversations that rarely happen in one place: upgrading legacy machine tools, deploying first collaborative robots on existing lines, and evaluating how Physical AI changes commissioning and uptime.

"Automation is key to manufacturing growth, and there's no place more valuable than IMTS to demonstrate its critical role." — Mike Cicco, President & CEO, FANUC America

Buyer filter

Is this booth worth your floor time?

IMTS runs six days and the South Building is dense. Use this to decide in 60 seconds whether FANUC belongs in your visit plan — before you burn half a morning on demos that don't match your production reality.

Fit assessment based on FANUC's IMTS 2026 positioning and product range. Verify project specifics, lead times, and regional integrator coverage directly at booth 338900.

Collection scope

What's on the floor at booth 338900

The demo floor is organized around three buyer use cases. Every platform below is designed to combine with the others — which is FANUC's commercial logic as much as an engineering one.

For shops adding first-time automation

The CRX collaborative robot series spans payloads from 3 kg to 30 kg and is aimed at teams with limited robotics experience. Programming runs through a tablet teach pendant with drag-and-drop motion blocks, hand guidance, and contact-stop safety, which shortens the path from first install to production runs on tending, picking, dispensing, and light welding tasks.

FANUC also offers application-specific CRX variants that matter on a trade-show floor where buyers compare regulated environments: food-grade models with NSF-H1 grease and washdown-friendly finishes, a paint cobot rated for coating and dispensing work, and welding configurations bundled with partner systems. The line is positioned around eight years of maintenance-free operation, a practical selling point for shops calculating total cost of ownership against labor availability rather than sticker price alone.

For high-throughput machining and tending

FANUC CNC controls and ROBODRILL compact machining centers address the core IMTS audience: job shops, contract manufacturers, and OEM production teams running turning, milling, and multi-axis work. FANUC's control portfolio is built around long mean time between failure and integration with its own servo and spindle ecosystems, which reduces the integration friction when a shop retrofits an existing machine or specs a new cell.

ROBODRILL units fill another common gap on the floor: compact footprints for drilling, tapping, and light milling where floor space and unattended runtime matter more than full five-axis complexity. Pairing a ROBODRILL with a CRX tending solution is a recurring conversation at FANUC booths because it shows how a smaller shop can automate overnight runs without building a greenfield line.

For AI-driven, adaptive production lines

Physical AI and vision-guided robotics are the thread tying FANUC's main booth to the wider IMTS floor. In AMT's Emerging Technology Center, FANUC joins Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Mazak on a continuously running cell that produces drone airframes using hybrid machining and robotic assembly, then integrates, tests, and disassembles units to show how modern factories recover from disruption under real constraints.

At booth 338900, expect live demonstrations in the same problem space: robots that track moving workpieces for fastening and inspection, generative-AI-assisted programming that turns natural-language instructions into motion, and digital-twin workflows that let engineers validate cells before metal is cut. These are not slide-deck concepts. They are the kinds of demos FANUC has been running at recent Chicago shows, including real-time bolt tightening on a moving engine block and vision-guided box handling with dynamic proximity monitoring when operators approach the work zone.

Vendor due diligence

Commercial health signals

Before committing project budget to an automation vendor, production buyers read the signals that indicate whether the company can deliver, support, and scale with their operation. Here is what the available data shows for FANUC ahead of IMTS 2026.

"Automation is key to manufacturing growth, and there's no place more valuable than IMTS to demonstrate its critical role. I'm happy to share that FANUC will move to the front row in the South Building at IMTS 2026, where, as longtime exhibitors, we're able to showcase our innovative robotics and factory automation technologies to IMTS visitors."

— Mike Cicco, President & CEO, FANUC America and Chairman, AMT

Booth 338900 · South Building ETC partner with ORNL + Mazak R-2000/E Series — 8 model configs

Recent momentum includes the next-generation R-2000/E Series industrial robots across eight model configurations, with higher wrist capacity and faster axis speeds aimed at automotive spot welding and heavy material handling. With more than one million square feet of exhibit space already committed to IMTS 2026 and a new Industrial AI Arena on the show floor, buyers will compare vendors on whether automation makes their current assets more productive or merely adds another island of technology.

Company context

Who you're talking to

FANUC developed Japan's first private-sector NC system in 1956 and has operated as an independent public company since 1972, headquartered in Yamanashi Prefecture at the base of Mt. Fuji. The company's manufacturing campuses run highly automated production for CNC, servo, robot, and ROBOMACHINE assembly, which gives its booth conversations a credible "builder, not assembler" tone.

FANUC America, based in Rochester Hills, Michigan, is the face most North American IMTS attendees know. It distributes controls, robots, and ROBOMACHINE products across the Americas and backs them with a Service First policy: lifetime maintenance support for equipment in the field. For buyers comparing automation vendors on downtime risk, that service density, authorized integrator coverage, and spare-parts logistics are often as important as the demo cycle time shown on the carpet.

FANUC's Americas go-to-market leans on one of the industry's largest authorized integrator networks. That matters at IMTS because many visitors are not buying a robot off the show floor; they are scoping a project timeline, integrator shortlist, and training plan. Academy and field-service resources in Rochester Hills and regional offices support that longer post-show cycle.

Floor planning

Best time to visit the booth

IMTS runs six days at McCormick Place. FANUC's main booth and the Emerging Technology Center are both in the South Building — plan your visit window based on whether you need deep technical conversations or a quick orientation pass.

Booth conversation prep

What to ask at the booth

These three questions separate a productive FANUC visit from a brochure collection. Bring your machine count, average lot size, and regional service requirements — the answers will tell you whether this vendor can support your line after Chicago.

Getting there

Find FANUC at IMTS 2026

Booth 338900 · South Building
McCormick Place
2301 S Martin Luther King Dr, Chicago, IL 60616

Dates: September 14–19, 2026
Organizer: AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology

IMTS runs six days at McCormick Place and remains the largest manufacturing technology marketplace in the Western Hemisphere. Plan time for both FANUC's main exhibit and the Emerging Technology Center in the South Building if you want the full picture of how the company positions CNC, robotics, and connected production in a single visit.

FANUC's official IMTS 2026 page →

Get in touch

Talk to FANUC America before the show

Drop your details below and your interest goes directly to the FANUC America team. No middleman — they reach back within 1–2 business days.