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| The International Foundry Trade Fair GIFA 2007 All eyes of the industry are fixed on the upcoming major event – the International Foundry Trade Fair GIFA 2007. More than 50, 000 trade visitor will assemble in Düsseldorf next summer, making the city the centre of their universe for five days. From 12 to 16 June 2007, manufacturers from 30-plus countries present casting-related innovations in the exhibition halls on the River Rhine. There is no second forum anywhere in the world that offers such a comprehensive overview of the rapid developments in the areas of materials and production engineering. It is obvious at first glance that manufacturers of foundry machines have long since become high-tech suppliers. This way, they have boosted casting procedures to a top rank in the race amongst the production processes. The tried and tested principle of casting has lost none of its charm – far from it! It convinces because of its nearly limitless design possibilities, mostly closed material circuits, and it also contributes to the recycling of metals. Thanks to the increasing automation of the processes, the economical production of high quality cast parts has become a matter of course these days. GIFA 2007 provides impressive proof: the industry meets new challenges – for example higher demands on resource management, dimensional accuracy and complexity of the cast parts – with impressive innovative power. Now in its 11th edition – the inaugural event took place in 1956 – GIFA has long since joined the ranks of the classics. Included in the high-tech trade fair quartet, which is completed by METEC, THERMPROCESS and NEWCAST, the trade fair reflects the linkages between all relevant technical areas and value added chains in the metal processing industry. The multi-facetted range presented at GIFA 2007 includes foundries and refractory engineering via foundry chemistry and the production of moulds and cores to secondary treatment of unfinished casts. The programme also includes materials handling and storing technology as well as software supported control technique. The "Technical Forum", organised simultaneously by the World Foundrymen Organisation (WFO), provides information on current developments – also including information technology for foundries. And this for good reason, because the intelligent use of IT is nowadays becoming a critical factor for foundries. For example, in order to further streamline the production processes and to shorten development times, more and more sophisticated procedures are used for the simulation of processes. This way, industrial robots can infiltrate the foundry processes that so far have not been automated. In addition, computers are now also contributing significantly to forecasts relating to the mechanical features of cast parts or the thermal control of casting procedures. Other success factors in the foundry business are flexibility and customer orientation. Increasing numbers of companies are developing from being mere suppliers of parts into full-service system partners. To get to the point: they are not selling kilograms, but rather customer benefits. The fact that most foundries are small to medium sized businesses also contributes significantly to the success of this concept. Holistic solutions that keep in mind the complete system life cycle are gaining in importance. In order for the foundries to offer their customers the required top level when it comes to originality and quality, they must be able to rely completely on the machinery used. This also relates to environmental sustainability, a topic that garners more and more interest. At GIFA, system producers and supplier companies show which new or improved technologies and concepts they use to meet the requirements for sustainable growth. Thus, modern processes for the production of moulds and cores contribute significantly to the lowering of emissions. Another major topic in Düsseldorf will be highly productive, environmentally sound binder systems. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Exhibition News :: home page |