Why FABTECH matters for sourcing teams
FABTECH gathers the metal fabrication supply chain — equipment, technology, and increasingly the international contract manufacturers courting US programs — in one venue. For a supply chain director running China+1 or reshoring-adjacent programs, it compresses supplier discovery, capability screening and relationship-building into three days, with the rare advantage of meeting factory engineering staff rather than trading-company sales layers.
Preparation: the two-week runway
Pull the exhibitor list and flag overseas fabricators by country and process fit. Prioritize factories over agents (ask directly: 'do you own the factory?'). Prepare one representative drawing per program — enough to test engineering fluency, not enough to expose critical IP; a superseded revision works well. Book meetings with your top 10 targets in advance; walk-up time goes to discovery of the unknown 20.
The 30-minute booth script
Minutes 0-5: your program shape (product family, annual volume, target market, compliance regime). Minutes 5-15: their capabilities against it — equipment, capacity, current US customers by category (not name), certifications and issuing bodies. Minutes 15-25: hand over the drawing and watch. A capable factory's engineer will ask about tolerances, material spec, finish and volume within minutes, and flag at least one manufacturability observation. Minutes 25-30: documentation — ask to see a redacted FAI report and compliance package from a live program. Photograph the booth, collect the technical contact (not just sales), and score within the hour while impressions are fresh.
After the show: the two-week follow-up window
Send your top candidates the same formal RFQ package within two weeks and compare response speed, DFM depth and pricing structure side by side. Show-floor chemistry fades; the RFQ response is the real audition.
Meet LIPHOCO at Booth N9841
We'll have engineering staff, sample rolling ladder and ringlock components, and live examples of our compliance documentation (ANSI A14.7 test reports, EN 12810 certificates, FAI packages). Schedule a slot via madeinvietnam@liphoco.com — or just bring a drawing and run your script on us first.
Frequently Asked Questions
FABTECH 2026 runs October 21-23, 2026 in Las Vegas. It is North America's largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event, and a primary venue for US buyers to meet international contract manufacturers face-to-face. LIPHOCO exhibits at Booth N9841.
Build a target list from the exhibitor directory two weeks out, book meetings with the top ten candidates, and prepare one representative (non-critical) drawing per program to test each factory's engineering fluency on the spot. Run the same 30-minute script at every booth so evaluations compare cleanly.
Ask directly whether they own the factory, request the factory address and a live video walkthrough, ask which engineers at the booth work in production, and watch how they handle a technical drawing. Factories engage on manufacturability within minutes; trading companies redirect to price and catalogs.