The Forming & Fabricating Pavilion preview for FABTECH 2026 points to a familiar but intensifying trend in metal fabrication: fewer disconnected steps, more continuous processing, and closer links between equipment, automation, software and material flow. The companies highlighted in the preview span tube bending, laser cutting, press brakes, sawing, coping robots, forklifts, lifting magnets and ERP-based production systems.
One of the more technically specific launches comes from BLM GROUP USA at Booth C-1208. The company says its new PRO-RUNNER 28 uses a patented approach that enables mandrel bending directly from coil for tube up to 28 mm in diameter. The machine is described as capable of right- and left-hand bending, compression or rotary draw bending and multi-radius work. The published description also says it combines straightening, calibrating, end-forming, bending, drilling and cutting in a continuous workflow, with a mobile orbital cutting unit that can cut at the required location, including after the final bend.
At Booth C-3408, Bystronic plans to show a broader portfolio built around sheet metal and tube processing, including the ByTube Star 130, ByTube Star 330, ByBend Star 80, Mobile Bending Cell, Xpert Pro 150, BySoft Suite and myBystronic. The stated emphasis is on matching systems, automation options and services to material types, part requirements, batch sizes and production targets. Cincinnati Incorporated is taking a similar integrated approach at Booth C-4610, where it will demonstrate the FiberMax laser cutting system, the XForm press brake, Sheet Followers automation, and its CI Form and CI Nest software packages. The company also says it will offer 15% off CI Form and CI Nest software during FABTECH.
Software and decision support are another clear theme. Epicor Software Corp., at Booth C-7637, is positioning its message around real-time shop-floor signals, connected process control and practical AI applications tied to ERP. Rather than presenting AI as a standalone layer, the company is framing it as part of a broader effort to address production complexity, disconnected systems, hidden capacity and workforce knowledge gaps.
Material handling and safety also feature prominently. Eriez will use Booth C-4444 to show SafeHold lifting magnets, sump cleaners and chip and parts conveyors. Its recently expanded SafeHold APL Series now reaches a maximum lifting capacity of 10,000 pounds, aimed at larger steel plates and fabricated components. Hubtex North America, at Booth C-7237, is presenting a new operating and control concept for multidirectional forklifts built around the HIT4 information terminal, a newly developed joystick and a display controller; the company says the system was introduced in the second quarter of 2026 as a standard feature in various product configurations. Industrial Magnetics, meanwhile, is focusing on testing, certification, repair and preventive maintenance for installed magnetic lifting, holding and separation equipment.
Additional exhibits reinforce the same market direction. HE&M Saw plans to show the WF1827A dual-column wide-flange band saw for structural shapes and bundles. HGG Profiling Equipment is presenting an updated RPC 1200 Mk3 heavy-duty beam coping robot. HSG Laser will feature the GH Series Laser & Store Pro Automation System, pairing smart material handling with a 2D fiber laser platform available from 3 kW to 60 kW. According to the company material, the system can process carbon steel up to 100 mm, stainless steel up to 120 mm and aluminum up to 90 mm. Taken together, the preview suggests that competitive differentiation is moving beyond machine specifications alone toward the quality of integration across processing, software, automation and support.
