FIA is pleased to welcome Sumitomo Heavy Industries (USA), Inc.   Located in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Sumitomo Heavy Industries (USA), Inc., provides mechanical, hydraulic and servo presses and automation for press lines to the industry. Takeharu Onishi, Senior Engineer, will serve as Official Representative.

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Sad News! 

Beginning September 15^th, FIA forging producer members will have a new and improved tool for making strategic human resource decisions. Beginning with Hourly and Management Compensation and Benefits surveys, FIA is moving to an on-line interactive benchmarking platform designed to provide you the information you need, when you need it.   Improvements include: instant feedback, ease of navigation and the ability to customize data reporting.

Persons authorized to provide data for their company will receive an invitation to participate in a webinar highlighting the platform's capabilities and data collection by postcard and email. To learn more or to find out who at your organization will receive the link to input data, contact your Compensation Benchmarking Team - Mary Ann Foote, Karen Lewis or Theresa Ferry at 216.781.6260 or benchmarking@forging.org 

August 2014 Congressional Recess Update or What Congress Didn't Do Before Summer Vacation.

Whether you think that Congress should spend more time at home listening to their constituents or you are appalled that they left Washington last Friday for 5 weeks with important work still to be done, the annual August Recess has begun. We thought it would be helpful to provide you with a recap of what little did get accomplished and what awaits them on September 8th when they return for a very short work period before adjourning again for the midterm elections on November 4th.

Click here to see the full memo.

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Trying To Fill Material Science Or Mechanical Engineering Positions? 

The 21^st International Forging Congress saw 720 participants from 27 countries united in the theme "Forging: Tradition Meets High-Tech." The congress opened with a sightseeing boat tour through the heart of Berlin.

     More than 40 speakers, delegates and accompanying persons from North America represented FIA at the Congress. FIA Chairman Arnold Visser, FIERF Professor Chet Van Tyne and FIERF Executive Director Karen Lewis made presentations at the meeting. Networking opportunities  and presentations were augmented by 38 exhibiting supplier companies.

     Themes of the opening presentations highlighted sustainable value creation and resource efficient  production. Baba Kalyani, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Forge Limited shared his thoughts on the challenges to the forging industry going forward: Skill development, Managing volatility and uncertainty; Customer relationship management and Innovation (including environmentally friendly  and advanced manufacturing).

     Two full days of presentations and social events were concluded with a gala farewell dinner before participants departed for one of eight plant tour locations (Germany North, Germany South, Italy, Spain, France, Czech Republic, Sweden and Turkey) or home.

Presentations from the Congress are available by clicking Here.

IFC 2017 will be hosted by the Confederation of Chinese Metalforming Industry.

The U.S. Census Bureau has begun follow up for the 2013 Annual Survey of Manufacturers. Businesses that were mailed Form - MA10000, but have not responded to this mandatory survey, will be receiving a reminder from us in the days and weeks ahead. This is a courtesy email to help you answer questions.

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The Industry Technical Conference is designed to showcase the best in forging technology with a diversity of presentations of interest to different processes, materials, and end-use markets; Report out FIERF funded research projects and industry collaborative group results; Provide a forum for students and professors to present their forging research; and provide a networking opportunity between industry, academia and research partners. Click here to view brochure or to register online.

Forging and supplier sales and marketing executives are encouraged to mark September 16-17 on their calendars for the 2014 FIA Marketing Workshop... this year to be held in Indianapolis at the JW Marriott downtown. Business leader and customer service expert Scott McKain will open the Workshop with a in depth look and developing a customer retention environment. We'll follow with a look at all the craziness happening in Washington and how it's impacting the forging industry. A Material Supplier Panel discussing elements that influence pricing and lead times, and immediate and long term opportunities / threats from offshore material suppliers will follow.

Day two will open with the return of popular speaker Joe DeStefano discussing marketing strategies for 2015. And whether you are a customer or supplier, all will find the global energy market outlook of interest. The day and the Workshop will conclude with IHS Global Insight taking an in depth look at our customer markets, where they are heading and the impact on open, impression and rolled rings sales for the coming 5 years.

This Workshop is open to members and non-members, and is a learning and networking opportunity not to be overlooked. Complete information and registration materials can be found by Clicking Here, or visiting the FIA website at www.forging.org. Please be sure and register by August 25 to take advantage of early bird pricing.

This 1 ½ day workshop will act to introduce participants to the different types of hammers. It will provide an explanation of the various elements of the hammer to provide an understanding of how they work and their influence on other parts of the hammer and the forging process.

The emphasis of the Workshop is predictive and preventative maintenance of the elements of the hammer, and things to be taken into account when planning a repair.

• Hammer Overview
• Foundations
• Die Alignment / Control Guide Alignment
• Tooling Setup & Wear Parts
• Hammer Controls
• Hammer Maintenance
• Maintenance Program Case Study

This Workshop will not be delivered again this year, so don't miss it! Class size is limited, so don't wait to register.

Click here to view/print the program. 

Employment and economics will form the foundation of discussion at the 2014 Fall Meeting of Members to be held October 12-14 at the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis. The hotel is conveniently connected via skywalk to most of the city's major attractions making them just a short walk away.

As most will arrive on Sunday October 12, FIA will host an optional cocktail reception that evening to meet and greet new faces as well as familiar faces. We'll officially open the program the next morning with Brian Beaulieu, CEO of the Institute for Trend Research, and noted economist for many metalworking trade associations, who will present his economic overview. We will follow with a more focused look at the world forging industry, and who owns what share of the world forging pie. We will finish with an assessment of the North American forging industry forecast. Most of the afternoon will be spent on employment issues. Diverse sources of skilled employees often overlooked will precede discussion of a new training program for future industry leaders. Special roundtables will follow to further dissect these issues.

The second day will open with discussion of possible changes to accelerate exports of LNG that will permanently and negatively impact the U.S. natural gas market. FIA Committee chairs will then report on recent accomplishments on behalf of FIA members. Noted author and charismatic speaker Tom Morris will complete the meeting by delivering an inspiring message based on what the great philosophers had to say about the timeless challenges organizations face today, from building a winning culture to the tools needed to unleash innovation.