NCMA begins centennial celebration on high note in Hoosier State

Staged last month in Indianapolis, the Annual Convention and International Concrete Exposition 2018 provided a backdrop for members, staff and allied groups to kick off celebration of National Concrete Masonry Association’s 100 years of advocacy, research, standards, and industry promotion activities. Under the centennial banner, NCMA opened three days of convention and networking activities, followed by the two-day ICON Expo – Machinery & Equipment Show. The convention included the premier of “1968–1993 The Modern Era,” the third installment of a four-part History Video series posted at the content-rich www.ncma100.com. The gathering sets the stage for the 1993–2018 video release and main 100th anniversary festivities during the NCMA 2018 Mid-Year Meeting, July 31-August 3 in Chicago.

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Columbia Machine unveiled the CPM+ 120, a 12-at-a-time workhorse equipped with 1,400- x 1,100-mm base production pallet; Columbia Vibration Technology, controlling vibration, frequency and pallet table air settings; and, Automated Mold Change, which in a 10-minute cycle completes mold transfer, re-sets mold recipe and adjusts for unit height change.
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Besser dispatched one of it most advanced models, the Servopac, for an Indianapolis appearance prior to delivery to Consumers Concrete’s Grand Rapids, Mich., plant.
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Pathfinder Systems displayed the latest version of its Tiger model.
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Through the Multimat RH 2000-3, Top-Werk America showed the potential of a combination big board (1,400- x 1,300-mm) and face mix machine.

This year saw the Machinery & Equipment Show return to NCMA’s trade exhibit program, prompting an array of Besser Co., Columbia Machine, Masa USA, Pathfinder Systems and TopWerk America block & paver plant iron at the Indiana Convention Center. With regular exhibit hall accommodations and hours, the Machinery & Equipment format is scheduled every three years—in between ConExpo-Con/Agg, Las Vegas, and the bauma trade fair, Munich. In the years of those global events, NCMA will conduct its annual convention along side the smaller scale B2B meeting and ICON Xchange exhibit program launched in 2015. The 2019 staging of those events is scheduled for February 15-16 at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista Resort, dovetailing the three-day NCMA Annual Convention.