Tradeshows are a great opportunity to connect with people and learn how to better your operations, and you won’t want to miss ProMat, the largest international supply chain and logistics tradeshow powered by MHI (The Material Handling Industry).
You can learn about material handling and logistics innovations from nearly 1,000 manufacturing and supply chain professionals. Furthermore, you will have the chance to learn how to bring innovation to your supply chain operations with insightful exhibitors attending ProMat 2025.
If you plan to attend this tradeshow, you should be adequately prepared. With so many exhibitors, networking events, and seminars, the best approach to always take advantage of an opportunity to learn and build new relationships is to prepare for them.
Here are some tips for getting the most out of ProMat.
1- Do your research beforehand and plan your schedule wisely
Admission to exhibitions and seminars is free for qualified professionals, as long as you register beforehand.
During this material handling expo, you’ll have the chance to discover the following:
- Real case studies.
- Management trends and best practices.
- Unique insights into future supply chain models.
- Innovative methods to meet new manufacturing, distribution, and supply chain challenges.
- Practical solutions to reduce costs, maximize efficiency, and minimize risks.
Don’t forget to check out the exhibitor booths and attend the supply chain conferences. In addition, you can participate in networking activities with the many professionals in manufacturing, distribution, and supply.
Source: ProMat 2025
To prepare for your visit, look at the ProMat website, where you’ll find all the essential information. It’s a great tool for finding opportunities to learn more about topics relevant to your business.
Once you’ve reviewed the names of the various exhibitors, what seminars are offered, and the networking events, plan your schedule to take in those that interest you the most!
2- Sharpen your professional skills with seminars
ProMat includes nearly 200 educational seminars. The wide variety of presentations will help deepen your knowledge and keep you up-to-date with the latest supply chain developments. Here are some warehouse safety seminars that may interest you.
1. Damotech presents Is Your Warehouse OSHA-ready? Learn the Fundamentals of Rack Safety Compliance
Date: Monday, March 17, 2025
Time: 10:30 AM to 11:15 AM
Room: Theater I
OSHA requires employers to provide a safe workplace, including specific warehouse regulations, but are your pallet racks prepared for an inspection? This seminar, led by rack safety expert Marc Rousseau, will help warehouse managers and safety professionals simplify safety and compliance processes, improve rack safety, avoid fines, and confidently handle OSHA inspections.
What you’ll learn:
- OSHA Compliance & Rack Safety: Understanding OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (NEP) and fundamental rack safety regulations to ensure compliance and avoid fines.
- Best Practices for Warehouse Safety: Implementing effective strategies and best practices to enhance rack safety and create a safe workplace for employees.
- Rack Maintenance & Compliance: Tackling warehouse rack maintenance projects while ensuring ongoing compliance with established safety codes and standards.
2. Damotech presents Rack Load Capacity - Can Your Warehouse Handle the Weight?
Date: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 Thursday, March 20
Time: 1:30 PM to 2:15 PM 9:30 AM to 10:15 AM
Room: Theater F Theater I
In this seminar, structural engineer Charles Carbonneau, head of Damotech's engineering team, will explore the importance of pallet rack structural integrity in fast-paced warehouse settings. He will discuss how rack modifications affect load capacities, the risks of overloading, and strategies for ensuring your racks can safely support their loads. Warehouse managers, safety officers, and logistics professionals will gain valuable insights to protect their assets, workforce, and operations from the dangers of rack overload. If you are interested in load capacity but are unable to attend this year's ProMat expo, watch our recorded seminar instead!
What you’ll learn:
- Best Practices: Learn how to assess warehouse rack load limits
- Critical Factors: Understand how design, materials, and installation affect rack capacity and safety.
- Preventive Strategies: Implement measures to prevent costly rack failures.
3. An MHI industry group (RMI) presents Storage Rack Safety 101
Date: Monday, March 17, 2025
Time: 1:30 PM to 2:15 PM
Room: MHI Industry Groups Theater
This seminar focuses on ensuring warehouse safety by covering key topics such as pallet racking design for life safety, essential engineering documentation, health and safety inspections, capacity signage, and racking maintenance programs. Attendees will gain insights to help achieve safety compliance goals and are encouraged to bring their questions.
What you’ll learn:
- Available Resources: Identifying resources for rack designers and end users to support system design and maintenance.
- Rack Inspections: Determining the appropriate type and frequency of inspections to keep the rack system in optimal working condition.
- Safety Accessories: Exploring available accessories to enhance the safety of rack systems.
- Damage Assessment & Repair: Learning how to assess rack system damage and decide whether to repair or replace components.
3- Discover valuable products and services from exhibitors
At ProMat, manufacturing and supply chain professionals can explore emerging trends or technologies to make their supply chain more successful.
With nearly 1,000 exhibitors and more than 100,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space, ProMat will enable you to discover innovative methods developed by industry leaders and talk with experts from various sectors.
When you access the exhibitor listings on the ProMat website, you can search by product category, sector, industry, state/province, country, business interest, and export market.
You can also view the show’s floor plan to find where you’re located among all the exhibitors (see picture above). And above all, don’t forget to meet our pallet rack safety experts at Damotech’s booth (S2555) (see picture below).
With over 35 years of experience, Damotech is North America’s largest and most trusted rack repair and safety company, serving warehouses of all sizes. Fortune 500 companies choose Damotech for the quality of its engineering services, its pallet rack repair and protection products, and its rack management software.
4- Network and create new business relationships
With thousands of attendees worldwide, ProMat is a unique and rare opportunity to network. It would help if you determined which networking events will give you the best options to build successful business relationships, so get ready to chat.
Here are some of the events occurring during the tradeshow:
From Burnout to Balance: Strategies for Women to Thrive in the Supply Chain
When?: Monday, March 17, from 12 PM to 5 PM
Where?: Vista Ballroom S406
Burnout is a widespread issue in the workplace, with Deloitte's research revealing that 77% of professionals have experienced it in their current roles. Join Taylor Elyse Morrison's forum as she highlights the early signs of burnout, helps you build a personalized prevention toolkit, and teaches essential skills to recover and bounce back.
MHI Networking Event for Young Professionals
When?: Monday, March 17, from 6:30 PM to 6 PM.
Where?: Second floor of the Chicago Athletic Association
Meet other young professionals in materials handling and supply chain management.
MHI Industry Night with Jay Pharoah
When?: Wednesday, March 19, from 4:30 PM to 7 PM.
Where?: Grand Ballroom S100
Participate in an evening of food, drinks, and entertainment featuring comedian Jay Pharoah. Tickets are $50 and include beer, wine, and hors d’oeuvres. Pharoah, known for his impressive celebrity impressions from his time on Saturday Night Live, is currently on tour and hosts The Quiz With Balls.
If you’re in school, remember that Student Day will be on March 19 from 8 AM to 1 PM. During this interactive day, you’ll be treated to presentations from many professionals and will take part in a guided tour of the exhibitions. You’ll also be able to chat with industry experts in support of your professional development.
Between now and your visit, we encourage you to consult Damotech's career center.
5- Take advantage of every opportunity
This event is created for professionals like you. It’s, therefore, the perfect opportunity to learn about new methods, update your knowledge, draw inspiration from industry best practices, and add new partners to your professional network.
You’ll meet people who can help you accelerate your business growth, optimize the progress of a business project, or even establish fruitful business relationships.
By attending ProMat, you and your business will benefit from best practices, success stories, tools, and practical solutions. Whatever solutions you need to succeed, look at what’s new and chat with industry professionals.
Register today: admission to exhibitions and conferences is free! And don’t forget to stop by our booth (S2555); Damotech’s team of experts will be happy to meet you and answer all your questions.
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