About 130 FIA CEO's, senior level managers, safety/environmental managers and technical personnel attended the FIA Fall Meeting, October 22-23 at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. Attendee comments and evaluations pointed toward a very successful roster of presentations.

FIA President Dennis Potter,HHI,opened the meeting and introduced Global Insight with a sneak peek at the updated FIA Forging Forecast. A short panel discussion on becoming an employer of choice for the next generation followed. Special thanks to FIERF President Brad Ahbe and several employees from Ellwood Group, Inc. who served on the panel. FIA Committee chairs then reviewed new efforts of the FIA committees on behalf of the membership. Before ending the day with roundtables, attendees heard an eye-opening presentation on protecting personal and business assets from taxes and lawsuits.

Tuesday morning began with an update from FIA lobbyist Laurin Baker on FIA's Washington interests and activities. He also provided some insight into possible election scenarios for Congress and President. He was followed by an update on safely handling the media during a company crisis - be it large or small. The day and the meeting closed with an overview from William Bennett, one of America's most important, influential and respected voices on cultural, political and education issues - all of which he covered at the meeting.

For more information on many of the above presentations, FIA Members please Click Here to view PDF slides.

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FIERF President Brad Ahbe recognized and thanked eight FIA Members for their support of the Foundation's programs and activities to reach out to students and develop and transfer technology for a strong forging industry - today and tomorrow. Pictured below, from the FIA Fall Meeting of Members are (left to right):

Greg Heim, Modern Drop Forge Company - Silver Anvil; Ed Lyons, Ajax-CECO - Silver Anvil; Chris Scheiblhofer, Scot Forge Co. - Platinum Anvil; Mike Ulven, Ulven Forging Incorporated - Bronze Anvil; Chuck Hopper, Composite Forgings - Bronze Anvil; Joe Cipriani, Keystone Forging Co. - Silver Anvil; Robert Smith, Danieli Corporation - Silver Anvil. Not pictured - Chris Zimmer, Universal Stainless & Alloy Products - Bronze Anvil.

Augusto Ponce, FRISA Forjados Receives Award at FIA Fall Meeting of Members 

FIA presented Augusto Ponce, Environmental Health and Safety Manager for FRISA Forjados, a plaque of recognition at the Fall Meeting, to thank him for his work in translating three safety courses, Safety Orientation, Hammer Safety and Press Safety into Spanish for the Forging University. The translations and testing process took Augusto over a year of his personal time to complete.

Augusto, FIA thanks you for your dedication to the safety and welfare of our Spanish speaking workers.

FIERF Sponsored Research: Second Ring Roll Project on the Topic of "Reduction of Residual Stresses and Distortion for Thin-Walled Rolled Rings" successfully completed.

The project was a combined industry and academia approach of benchmarking, simulation of relevant process parameters that contribute to distortion as well as conducting design of experiments for various quenching parameters. The project partners were FRISA Forjados, Scot Forge, Ajax Rolled Ring and Machine, Patriot Forge, Education and Consulting, LLC, Ohio State University and FIERF Technical Director. The challenges to overcome were defining the varying heat transfer coefficients within the quench bath, as well as, the generation of material property data for the various phases of 4340 and 4140 undergoing rapid cooling. Click here for more information.

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In October, FIA continued to work towards fulfilling one of our key strategic initiatives of increasing FIA's global presence by participating in both EuroForge 2012, in Berlin Germany,  and AsiaForge 2012, in Seoul, Korea.  In addition to great networking, there was industry and market specific information exchanged.  Examples of this information can be found at these links: FIA @ EuroForge; EuroForge @ AsiaForge.

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Forge Shop Best Safety Practices Workshop - January 23, 2013 -Cleveland

The Forge Shop Best Safety Practices Workshop is a one-day workshop where safety professionals from FIA member forge shops, as well as safety industry professionals will share their best safety practices with you. The workshop will be held at the Crowne Plaza Cleveland Airport Hotel.

Workplace safety requires providing a safe work environment for your employees. An injured worker is an unproductive employee, costing your business the services of a valued employee as well as driving up your insurance costs. While catchy slogans posted on signs can be effective cautionary reminders, responding to safety issues immediately can reduce the number of incidences of workplace mishaps.

For additional information, contact George Layne at: 216-781-6260, glayne@forging.org  

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FIA will represent its Member companies through exhibition at the Power Gen International Show, December 11-13, 2012, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. 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. See http://www.power-gen.com/index.html for more information on exhibiting or attending the show.

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Forge Fair Sponsorship Opportunities

Once again, FIA is offering sponsorship opportunities for Forge Fair 2013, March 26-28.

Sponsors of Forge Fair 2013 will gain added visibility for their companies, demonstrating their support for the forging industry, as well as making it possible for FIA to lower Attendee Registration Fees! A variety of sponsorship opportunities are available, suitable for small, as well as large companies.

As a sponsor you receive:

Special recognition at sponsored events: Signage that FIA will print, and display.

Sponsor Sign for Sponsor's Booth

Sponsor Recognition in Show Guide

Sponsor Recognition on FF Web Page

(Click Here) to review Available Opportunities

Please contact: Billie Hurt at billie@forging.org or 216-781-6260 for sponsorship advantages and information regarding discounts.

At the suggestions of our Forge Fair Attendees and Exhibitors, we have expanded the time that the Exhibit Hall will be open by 35%. Unlike in the past, the Show will now start off on Tuesday, noon, with the Exhibit Hall open, and lunch provided.

The hall will still be closed to the general public during the Exhibitor Presentations, allowing attendees and exhibitors to participate in, and attend presentations. This will also allow attendees and exhibitors to make private appointments to visit select exhibitors when the hall traffic is at a minimum.

(Click Here) to go to the Forge Fair 2013 Home Page.

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Based on early indicators, Forge Fair 2013 looks like it may set some records. Compared to the same time out from last Forge Fair, we have 33% more Exhibit Booths reserved, 11% New Exhibiting Companies, with 15% of the Exhibitors that exhibited in 2010 enlarging their booths.

Why reserve your Exhibit Booth Early?

• Receive preferential booth assignments
• Reserve a preferential Exhibitor Presentation slot

(Click Here) to view/print Exhibitor Brochure.