October 2009 reported a 57% jump in visits to the FIA Website, with the Forge Fair Home Page, http://forging.org/ffair/fia.cfm, leading the increase. 
 
(Click here) to view/print the full FIA October Web Stats Report.

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Thank you to all FIA Members who have supported the Foundation through the corporate giving campaign launched in 2005.  The program has generated a reliable source of funding to develop and sustain scholarships, graduate fellowships, industry and university research grants.  The Industry Research Reports webpage has been developed as a technical library of these projects for members' use.
 
The backbone of the corporate giving campaign are those companies willing to make a significant financial commitment to the foundation over a period of three years - Gold, Silver and Bronze Anvil Society Members.  It is with pleasure that the Foundation recognizes two new Anvil Society Members:  Electralloy as a Silver Anvil Society Member and Weber Metals, Inc. as a Bronze Anvil Society Member.  Thank you!
 
For more information on FIERF programs, corporate or individual giving options, see Investing in the Future of Forging or contact the Foundation Office at 216.781.5040.  The Honor Roll of Contributors is a complete list of Gold, Silver and Bronze Anvil Members of the Foundation. 
 

Strengthen FIA's benchmarking programs and expand data gathering to a global scope

1. Form a sub-committee of the Board to provide 

   oversight and direction for FIA's benchmarking

   programs.
2. Initiate an Equipment Inventory survey.
3. Determine if the Uptime Benchmarking program

    should be continued, and if so, what format should

    be used.
4. Inventory the benchmarking programs of

    international forging associations.
5. Develop a reciprocal arrangement with international

   forging associations to exchange benchmarking

   data and develop a global program.

EDUCATION & TRAINING
           

Position FIA as a world class resource for member education and training

1. Form a sub-committee of the Board to provide

   oversight and direction to FIA's member

   management and employee education and training

   programs.
2. Conduct a member educational needs assessment

   survey.
3. Incorporate survey findings into educational

    program planning.

 

GLOBAL NETWORKING
           

Increase FIA global networking opportunities

1. Secure FIA hosting of International Forging

   Congress on a 9-year cycle.
2. Secure FIA hosting of International Forge Masters

    on a 9 year cycle.
3. Sustain an FIA presence at EUROFORGE and 

    ASIAFORGE meetings.
4. Invite selected representatives of EUROFORGE and

    ASIAFORGE to Forge Fair.
5. Establish a mechanism to facilitate reciprocal plant

   tour opportunities with EUROFORGE and

   ASIAFORGE.

 

FORGING TECHNOLOGY: FIERF and FIA

           

It was the recommendation of the Strategic Planning Group that FIA and FIERF Boards should explore more efficient ways to govern and operate the two organizations to achieve the objectives laid out in the Forging Industry Technology Roadmap 2008 Update.

 

PUBLIC POLICY

           

It was the recommendation of the Strategic Planning Group that FIA intensify their ability to influence public policy.  A tactic to accomplish this would be to form a PAC, decision is "Should FIA form a PAC as a separate entity that member companies could choose to participate, or not, by providing the PAC contributions."

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The FIA Board of Directors elected Roy W. Hardy to the position of FIA Executive Vice President and Chief Staff Officer at its Oct. 19, 2009 meeting at The Woodlands Conference Center in Houston, TX.  Hardy joined the staff August 17 after a professionally orchestrated and national search to find a replacement for C. H. (Charlie) Hageman who is retiring at the end of CY 2009.
 
Hardy was subsequently introduced by FIA President Rick Creed to members at the Fall Meeting. Hardy's acceptance remarks also included presentation of FIA's new Strategic Plan which had been updated during the summer and formally adopted by the Board at this meeting.
 
In explaining his own situation, Hageman commented:  "Following a year of planning with FIA's Executive Committee, Roy and I have worked closely together over the past two months in transition to prepare and target this meeting as a literal 'coming out event' for him as FIA's new Chief Staff Executive Officer.  I am sure members will find that we have made the right decision about Roy, that he is fully capable of picking up the reins in what we expect to be a near-seamless transition of FIA responsibility and duties.  It's a special day for Roy and the staff to have this first event together with the membership as FIA's new team going forward."
 
Hardy can be reached at [email protected].  Hageman immediately assumes a temporary "on call" status with FIA until the end of the year, retaining routine FIA email contact at [email protected].
 
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Staff member George M. Mochnal, FIA Director of Research and Education for the past 15 years, has retired from FIA on October 31.  Completing a second association career (with FIA), following a prior 30 year "industry career" as an Executive with forging producer companies SIFCO Industries and Consolidated Industries, Mochnal asserts that his third career as an independent forging consultant is now and immediately underway.
 
During his years with FIA, Mochnal coordinated numerous educational, research and technical activities for FIA and FIERF, broadly increasing industry exposure to various Government and funding agencies,  as partner with National Laboratories, and with FIA/FIERF academic-partnered Magnet School Universities and Professor programs, all for the purpose of enhancing the growth and productivity of FIA members and the forging industry.  He championed FIA's first (and subsequent  updates) of the Forging Industry Technology Roadmap, and helped bring much needed funding, knowledge and experience to forging industry self-help efforts and projects at both near-term technology transfer and immediate working-application levels.
 
George is well known throughout the world forging community and answered hundreds if not thousands of operating and technical questions from FIA members, customers, and forging-interested persons, companies and organizations of all rank and hue.  Mochnal will temporarily retain FIA email contact at current address [email protected] as an avenue for continuing contact for FIA members as may be helpful.  Thank you George, for a career in service to FIA and a lifetime devoted to the forging industry.
 
Below, George Mochnal receives a Proclamation of Appreciation from FIA and FIERF, presented by FIERF President Doug Brown at a dinner event immediately preceding the September 10 Board of Trustees meeting.

In spite of economic woes, almost 70 FIA CEO's and senior level managers and executives attended the FIA Fall meeting October 19-20 at The Woodlands Resort & Conference Center in Houston, TX. Attendee comments and evaluations pointed toward a very successful roster of presentations.
 
FIA President Rick Creed, Weber Metals, Inc.,opened the meeting and introduced economist Richard DeKaser who discussed how the housing crisis lead to the current financial turmoil and what it will take to get us out. Laurin Baker of the FIA public policy advisory firm The Laurin Baker Group, provided an update on legislative issues of importance to FIA members. Energy specialist Art Gelber then looked at natural gas pricing and alternative energy sources for the short term. The business day wrapped up with the always popular roundtables on General Business, Open Die/Rolled Ring Business and Federal Stimulus Money. Thanks to Joe Cipriani, Keystone Forging; Eduardo Garza T. Junco, FRISA Aerospace; and Rich Clemens, Jorgensen Forge for serving as chairmen. A chance to relax and catch up with other FIA members followed at reception and dinner that evening.
 
Business sessions continued on Tuesday with an eye opening look at coming human resource and labor issues as presented by the always popular Lynn Outwater of the law firm Jackson Lewis LLP. An FIA Business Hour followed to review FIA and FIERF activities of current significance to members. Special thanks to Brad Ahbe of Canton Drop Forge for an update on FIERF activities over the past year; and Jack Vater, Walker Forge and FIA Plant Engineering Chair for a look at the Committee's recent accomplishments and future activities including Forge Fair 2010. Sessions on FIA's new Strategic Plan and the Forging Defense Manufacturing Consortium were included.
 
The meeting closed with a second set of roundtables including another session on General Business; a discussion of potential revisions for the Annual FIA Orders and Shipments survey; and a look at accessing capital in a tight credit market. Thanks to Mark Twete, Jorgensen Forge; Make Kamnikar, Ellwood Group, Inc. and Hud Smith, SIFCO Forge Group for chairing these roundtables.
 
For more information on any of the above presentations, FIA Members please Click Here to view PDF slides.

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FIA Members are encouraged to review the latest forging market forecast as reported by Global Insight - FIA's economic forecast firm. Over 100 slides of data on the top forging customer markets are presented, and include information on raw material availability and energy demand and pricing.
 
The presentation can be accessed by FIA members by clicking here.

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FIA will represent its Member companies through exhibition at the Power-Gen International Show, December 8-10, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Over 18,000 attendees are expected for the power industry's three-day information exchange designed to share practical experiences, knowledge and ideas on the latest trends and challenges. Plenty of Forging Capability Guide CDs promoting member custom forging services will be distributed. It's expected that many domestic and offshore forging operations will send personnel to prospect this growing market segment. For a free guest pass to tour the exhibit floor, FIA Members may e-mail [email protected]   requesting such. Only electronic Guest Passes are available. See http://www.power-gen.com/index.html for more information on the show in general.

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The National Forging Tooling Database (NFTD), a project of the FIA Defense Manufacturing Consortium (FDMC), is one of eight winners of the Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages 2009 Achievement award.  The award is sponsored annually by the DOD Defense Logistics Agency. 
 
NFTD is a web-based locator system for forge tooling of defense related parts, many of which are infrequently used, hard-to-find and expensive to replace, often inclusive of long lead times, even if immediately needed.  The NFTD, operated by the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), North Charleston, SC lists some 280,000 stock (or part) numbers with an estimated value at $5 billion of tooling.  The NFTD service has been one of the most valued projects to the customer and forging supply chain of the FDMC, created by the on-going FIA-ATI partnership since 2001.
 
Application for the award, which includes an interesting review of the project need, development and problem solution was submitted by FDMC Executive Director Jon Tirpak.  Click here for further detailed reading about the project.  
 
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Companies that participated in the 2007 Employee Safety Perception Survey reported that in many cases, the survey opened their eyes to potential safety issues they were not aware of, as well as highlighting safety programs that were working.
 
The FIA Safety and Health Committee has developed this short, 50-question, Agree / Disagree Survey.  The survey is designed to be administered by your company's safety and health coordinator, and should take no longer than 15 - 20 minutes for an employee to fill out. Employees will not be asked to identify themselves, their individual responses will be anonymous, to promote candor.
 
The Survey is designed to help you evaluate your workers' perception of your company's safety programs. The following are just a few of the areas that the survey focuses on:
> General view of your company's safety culture
> Management buy-in to a culture of safety
> Effectiveness of current safety programs
> Level of employees' willingness to open up to, and

   work with, management regarding safety issues
> How much do your workers care about safety, and

   much more
 
Your company's individual responses will not be identified, and only known by you, and an FIA staff person.  Your data will be tabulated on-site by your safety coordinator, and e-mailed directly to FIA.  FIA will then download your data into a comprehensive data base, made up of all participating companies. A personalized report will then be developed for you, showing you what the overall, aggregate Agree/Disagree percentage was, and what your company's responses were for each question.
 
Why Participate?
> Identify and prioritize problem areas
> Increase employee involvement, awareness, and

   responsibility in safety programs   
> Raise employee morale                                       

> Establish an early warning system       
> Expedite problem solving and program 
> Validate management decisions 
> Establish baseline measures for future re-survey

   comparison
 
Survey Cost:
There is no fee for FIA Member Companies to participate in this Survey. To participate, or for additional information, please contact George Layne, FIA Safety & Health Committee Liaison, @ 216-781-6260 - [email protected]
 
Each company will receive their own personalized report. The person completing the Survey will be mailed their report, marked: "Personal and Confidential".
 
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The FIA Safety & Health Committee has developed a workshop to help introduce forging companies to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is most commonly known by the acronym OSHA. By gaining an understanding of OSHA operations and procedures, you can learn how to work with them to prevent or reduce injuries and illnesses in your workplace. 
 
Training managers may download the 42-page presentation, along with an Instructor and Student Guides, for classroom presentations.
 
The workshop is divided into six sections:
1. Background of OSHA
2. Coverage, responsibilities and rights under OSHA
3. Standards
4. OSHA inspection process
5. Implementing a safety and health management

    system
6. Assistance to small businesses
 
At the end of the workshop, participants should be able to:
1. Describe the tools OSHA uses to reduce workplace

    injuries and illnesses.
2. Identify basic employer and employee

    responsibilities and rights under OSHA.
3. Recognize how OSHA standards are organized and 

    developed.
4. Select the steps of the OSHA inspection process.
5. Recognize the four elements of a safety and health

    management system.
6. Obtain information about compliance assistance.
 
To view/download the Presentation/Guides link to: http://forging.org/intro_to_OSHA.html
 

As a company's business needs evolve, so do their training needs. With this in mind, FIA is attempting to evaluate the current, and future, training needs of the forging industry. Please take a few minutes and respond to the Questionnaire. Your response will help us design and implement the appropriate training and development initiatives.
 
(Click here) to view/print the Training Assessment Questionnaire