Author: RB : 09/27/11

The 18th International Forgemaster Meeting (IFM) took place on September 12 – 15, 2011 at the Omni William Penn in Pittsburgh, PA. The IFM meets every three years at different locations around the world to bring together executives and technical representatives of leading open die forging companies to exchange technical information. This time it was the turn of the United States to serve as the meeting place under the organizational leadership of our U.S. trade association, the Forging Industry Association. ELLWOOD Group, Inc. (EGI) acted as corporate host and Dr. Kevin Handerhan (COO, forgings and castings, of EGI) was the Chairman of the IFM planning committee. John Paules chaired the technical paper selection committee. The IFM meeting brought together 570 delegates and some 80 technical papers were presented pertaining to new forging processes, equipment and applications. The IFM concluded with a tour of EGI’s New Castle facilities – ELLWOOD Quality Steels, ELLWOOD Mill Products, and North American Forgemasters for 150 IFM attendees. A separate tour was alternatively offered to Union Electric Steel and Electralloy. The next IFM meeting will be hosted by the Japan Forging Association and take place in Tokyo in 2014.

The 570 delegates to the IFM meeting had their choice of two simultaneous tracks of technical presentations.

Three busloads of IFM delegates visited ELLWOOD Quality Steels, ELLWOOD Mill Products, and North American Forgemasters (pictured here at the 4,500 ton press), ECF’s joint venture with Scot Forge.