EPMA News

Nearly 60 Members of EPMA met together in London on 5^th and 6^th of June for their Annual Meeting and a special one off seminar to celebrate the Association’s 25^th anniversary.

Executive Board and Council meetings plus the General Assembly were held on 5^th June at the historic Stationers Guild Hall in London. EPMA President, Philippe Gundermann, welcomed members to the annual meeting and gave an overview of the current improving financial and market situation in Europe. He also said he believed that the PM sector will continue to expand in the future because of its technological advantages plus that it is fast-moving, lean, green, cost efficient, and innovative.

Jonathan Wroe, Executive Director of EPMA, then gave an update of EPMA's activities over the past twelve months which focussed on key industry statistics, research projects, a wide range of working group activities plus the success of the PM summer school and EuroPM 2013 Congress in Gothenburg. He reported that the association has nearly recovered its membership numbers to pre- crisis levels and produced a break even financial result in 2013.

Once the formal business was complete there followed a celebration dinner at the same venue, whereby participants were able to enjoy an pre dinner aperitif outside in the evening sunshine, within earshot of St Paul’s Cathedral.

The special one day seminar, covering the development of the European PM industry, took place the following day in the splendid surroundings of 116 Pall Mall close to Trafalgar Square, which is the home of the UK’s Institute of Directors. This one off event had two functions, firstly to recognise the companies, people and technology that have made the European PM industry the dynamic force that it is today. Secondly to start the process of building data for an electronic PM archive details of which will be released at the forthcoming EuroPM2014 in Salzburg.

The eight invited speakers are all well known in the field of PM – starting the day Dr Cesar Molins from AMES in Spain, past President of the EPMA, gave an excellent and personal overview of the development of the association since its and even before its formation in 1989.

There then followed four papers covering the history of the main sectors of the industry Paul Beiss looked at Press and Sinter, Leo Prakash gave an interesting personal view of the Hard Materials sector and they were followed by Bruno Vicenzi of MIM Italia who gave a high speed overview of the impact of IPR and the development of MIM in Europe. Finally Olle Grinder gave an update on the relatively new technology of HIP going back to the earliest previously classified work in the 1950’s.

There was then a change of tone as Volker Arnhold put forward a list of candidates which could be viewed as market changing products for the PM industry – these included PF Con rods, etc and then after lunch a more forward looking session saw Adeline Riou from Erasteel look at the recent developments in Additive Manufacturing as applied to metal powders.

Finally EPMA president Philippe Gundermann, made an inspiring speech to present the case for the need for an updated European PM roadmap which will help to outline and develop a route forward for the industry in its relations with government, legislation and activities. This roadmap called Vision 2025 is currently being developed and should be available in its final form by January next year.

Overall the event was seen by the participants as highly successful and representing a fitting celebration of our 25years as Europe’s foremost PM trade association.

The EPMA launched the World PM2016 Congress & Exhibition on the last full day of the PM2014 World Congress which took place in Orlando, Florida, 19 – 22 May.

A packed luncheon audience of PM2014 World Congress Delegates and Exhibitors were the first to watch the new promotional video showcasing just some of the delights of what Hamburg will provide in two-year’s time.

The opening speech from Mr. Philippe Gundermann, EPMA President, Eramet Group, thanked the organisation of the MPIF who had allowed the EPMA to be part of their event and conveyed a little of what to expect from a European-organised World PM Congress.

After the World PM2016 Congress & Exhibition video Dr. Michael Krehl, PM2016 Chairman, PMG Holding GmbH, gave the audience a brief presentation of Hamburg, one of the major European Ports, and its historical significance for trade and industry.

Further information regarding the World PM2016 Congress & Exhibition which will take place at the Congress Centre Hamburg (CCH) 9-13 October 2016, Hamburg, Germany, including the launch video, is available at www.worldpm2016.com or by contacting the EPMA Secretariat at the usual address.

The EPMA will be present at two HIP related events the first on 16^th April in Aberdeen is “HIP Processing of Materials for (Offshore) Energy Applications”organised by the IOM3 and sponsored by EPMA http://www.iom3.org/events/hip2014.

The second is the HIP14 Congress in Stockholm from June 9 to 13 which is organized by The International HIP Committee (IHC) and the Swedish Steel Producers´ Association, Jernkontoret. www.hip14.se

 The Online registration form is now available for applications for the 14th EPMA Powder Metallurgy Summer School to be held in Kraków, Poland, 16-20 June 2014. The 5-day residential event, consisting of a range of lectures given by PM experts drawn from both industry and academia, will be hosted by Professor Jan Kazior and his team at Cracow University of Technology.

Topics to be covered include:

• Manufacture of Metal Powders,
• Metal Injection Moulding,
• Modelling, Sintering
• Hot Isostatic Pressing to name but a few.

Participants will be able to discuss and solve problems as well as get hands on experience of the various PM processes in the University laboratories. There will also be the opportunity to visit a PM component manufacturer.

The EPMA PM Summer School programme is coordinated by Professor José Torralba from the University Carlos III in Madrid and Mrs Joan Hallward from the EPMA, and is tailored for young graduates, under the age of 35 and having obtained a degree from a European institution, from one of the following disciplines:

• Materials science,
• Design engineers,
• Manufacturing or metallurgy

The 2014 PM Summer School fee of €575 covers tuition, all course materials, shared accommodation, a Welcome Reception and a Summer School Dinner. To download a copy of the PM Summer School brochure click on the link in this window

Places are limited so an early application is advised.

Closing date for applications is 31 March 2014.

In the ten years since the ground-breaking online database GPMD was launched it has been refined and extended to include the non-ferrous PM and MIM sectors with coverage of nearly 4000 lines of high quality data. Thanks to continuous growth the site now has over 10000 registered users from countries all over the world and from a wide range of industrial sectors. In the latest development launched this week additional information has been added covering strain controlled fatigue data for :-

• The pre-alloyed steel grade FL-05M1/FL-4405(
• The “hybrid” material FLN2-4405, based on same pre-alloyed steel grade, but with elemental additions of both 0.5% carbon and 2% nickel, in the as-sintered condition.
• The pre-alloyed steel grade FL-5305 (, in the sinter-hardened and tempered condition

The data is displayed in a user-friendly format viewable in both tabular and graphic formats and it is hoped it will be of particular interest to design engineers in a range of industries.

. To access the web site and see the new capabilities of the database jointly developed with MPIF and JPMA visit -www.pmdatabase.com.

The EPMA is supporting forthcoming two end user workshops for the HIP community as part of the activities of its EPHG sectoral group. The first will take place at RWTH in Aachen on 27^th March and is targeted at HIP for Wear & Corrosion applications. Please contact Christoph Broeckman for details.

The second event is being organised by the UK based IOM3 and will take place on 16^th April at TWI in Aberdeen and its title is “HIP Processing of Materials for (Offshore) Energy Applications” bookings can be made for this event via the IOM3 website. http://www.iom3.org/content/particulate-engineering

The EPMA has confirmed the Euro PM2014 International Conference and Exhibition will be held in Salzburg, Austria, September 21 – 24 2014 at the modern The Messezentrum Salzburg. The event will host a programme of over 250 oral and poster papers that will cover all aspects of Powder Metallurgy including Hard Materials and Diamond Tools, Hot Isostatic Pressing, Metal Injection Moulding, New Materials and Applications and PM Structural Parts.

EPMA Executive Director Jonathan Wroe said “In addition to the main programme, we will also be holding a number of special interest seminars, EPMA working group meetings and workshops on key topics of relevance to the industry. We are looking forward to a successful event in one of Europe’s oldest cities, Salzburg”.

Further details will be available in due course from the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) Secretariat.

The historic trading city of Gothenburg played host to this year’s Euro PM Congress organised and sponsored by the European Powder Metallurgy Association.

A truly international event it included delegates from nearly 50 countries in all regions including the Far East, Africa and the Americas. The Technical content within the Congress meant that it attracted over 200 Oral and Poster presentations and a strong attendance of over 800 participants from all parts of the PM industry.

The event also included a sell-out exhibition with 85 stands covering companies from all parts of the PM supply chain. Jonathan Wroe, EPMA Executive Director said “Gothenburg has proved an excellent location for an event. We would like to thank the City of Gothenburg, our members and delegates for their support over the course of the event and year, which is much appreciated”.

During the Congress plenary session, recently elected EPMA President, Mr Philippe Gundermann presented the EPMA Distinguished Service Awards to Dr Bryan Roebuck of NPL London, Professor José Torralba from University Carlos III in Madrid and Dr John Dunkley from Atomising Systems in Sheffield.

A new innovation for Euro PM Conferences was the awarding of four special keynote paper awards, sponsored by Journal of Powder Metallurgy, to those papers selected as having the highest merit. The winners were Miss Helen Dugdale from Rolls Royce plc., United Kingdom, Dipl. Engineer Markus Hadyn from Plansee SE, Austria, Dr. Inigo Iturriza from CEIT, Spain, and Mr. Per Lindskog, PM Consultant from Sweden.

A full social programme included a Welcome Reception and a special City Reception in addition to the traditional Congress Dinner. The Congress Dinner was held at Väland a historic restaurant in the heart of the city and provided a superb location for delegates to unwind and sample Swedish cuisine.

Work is already underway for Euro PM2014 to be held in Salzburg, Austria from the 21-24 September 2014. Further information on this and other EPMA events are available on our Events Calendar.

The use of Additive Manufacturing (AM) with metal powders is a new and growing industry sector with many of its leading companies based in Europe.

As a result of discussions between members of the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) who are active across the AM supply chain, it has been formally agreed that the EPMA will launch a new sectoral group with immediate effect.

To be called the European Additive Manufacturing Group (EAMG) its objectives will be fourfold:

• To increase the awareness of the Additive Manufacturing technology, with a special focus on metal powder based products.
• To enable the benefits of joint action, for example through research programmes, workshops, benchmarking and exchange of knowledge.
• To improve the understanding of the benefits of metal based AM technology by end users, designers, mechanical engineers, metallurgists and students.
• To assist in the development of International standards for the AM Sector.

There will be two co-chairmen of the group and in the first instance these will be Ralf Carlström of Höganäs AB Sweden and Claus Aumund-Kopp from Fraunhofer IFAM, Germany. They will coordinate activities in several areas including Conferences & Workshops, Promotion Activities, Technical Research Programs, Training and Standardisation work. It is anticipated that the EAMG will hold meetings regularly and it will be open to companies and organisations across the supply chain who are or will become members of the EPMA.

For further information please contact

Dr Olivier Coube

+33 4 42 12 47 44

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The University of Trento played host to the 13th PM Summer School, (and the fifth to be funded by EPMA reserves), on 8th - 12th July 2013. As usual demand far outweighed the places available, but 52 students were successful in gaining a place on this year’s course.

Professor José Torralba, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, coordinated the event in conjunction with Professor Alberto Molinari and his team from the University of Trento, with administrative support from Joan Hallward and Rachel Burton-Pye of the EPMA.

The students from throughout Europe had the opportunity to listen to, discuss and solve problems with PM experts drawn from both industry and academia. Lectures were complemented by the University of Trento’s excellent laboratory facilities, where students learned about ‘Impact resistance of low alloyed PM steels’, ‘Microstructural analysis and microhardness’ and ‘Hardenability and sinterhardenability by dilatometry’.

Participants also had the chance to visit two companies: Mimest, who produce typical MIM parts, and Eurocoating, a medium sized company working in biomaterials.

No Summer School would be complete without the now traditional Summer School dinner and song contest held on the last evening of the course. This year the venue was ‘Doc’, a typical Italian restaurant, where everyone feasted to their heart’s content.

Another EPMA PM Summer School is planned for next year. Further information will be made available on the EPMA website early in 2014.

This year all events, except the Annual Dinner, will take place at: Eurostars Grand Central Hotel Arnulfstrasse 35 80636 Munich Bavaria, Germany

Tel: +49 895165740 Fax: +49 89 516574188 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.eurostarsgrandcentral.com Preliminary Event Schedule Thursday 2 nd May 13.30 - 14.30hrs EPMA Board Meeting (Board members only) 15.00 - 19.00hrs EPMA Council Meeting (Council members only) 20.00 - 23.00 EPMA Annual Dinner (venue to be advised) Friday 3 rd May 09.30 - 12.30hrs EPMA General Assembly 12.30 - 13.30hrs Lunch 13.30 - 15.00hrs European Structural Parts Group (ESPG) General Meeting 15.30 - 17.00hrs ESPG Parts Makers Meeting (by invitation) All members of EPMA are welcome

The historic riverside city of Basel hosted this year's EuroPM Congress organised and sponsored by the European Powder Metallurgy Association.

A truly international event it included delegates from some 40 countries. Although a more focussed event in its areas of interest, its appeal meant that it attracted nearly 200 Oral and Poster presentations with nearly 700 attendees. The event also included a sell-out exhibition area with 74 stands covering companies from all parts of the PM supply chain. Jonathan Wroe, EPMA Executive Director said "Basel has proved an excellent and efficient venue for this event with its focus on MIM, Hard Materials, HIP and PM Applications. We would like to thank the EPMA Swiss members, plus the technical programme committee and delegates for their support, which is much appreciated". During the Congress plenary session EPMA President Mr Ingo Cremer presented the EPMA Distinguished Service Award for 2012 to Dr Volker Arnhold formerly of GKN Sintermetals GmbH in Germany. In addition EPMA Thesis awards were presented to Dr Catalina Jiménez from the Helmholz-Centre, Berlin and Mr Bruno Marques who was studying at Aveiro University in Portugal. A full social programme included a welcome reception and factory visits in addition to the traditional Gala Dinner. This was held at the elegant Stadtcasino, Basel in the heart of the city and provided a suitable finale to an enjoyable and productive event. Work is already underway for EuroPM 2013 to be held in Gothenburg, Sweden from the 15th -18th September 2013 to receive further information on this and other EPMA events please contact the EPMA

The 12th EPMA Summer School took place 25th – 29th June in San Sebastian Spain.

As has been the trend over the past few years, demand far outweighed the places available. The event was hosted by Professor Francisco Castro and his team from CEIT (Centro de estudios e investigaciones técnica), with administrative support from Joan Hallward and Kate Blackbourne of the EPMA. Professor José Torralba, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, coordinated the event during which the 53 students from throughout Europe had the opportunity to listen to, discuss and solve problems with PM experts drawn from both industry and academia. Lectures were complemented by CEIT's excellent laboratory facilities, where students learned about atomisation amongst other areas of PM. This year participants also had the chance to visit the factory of PMG Polmetasa SAU, as well as their state-of-the-art R&D facility. Polmetasa has the largest share of the European shock-absorbers market and is equipped with several sintering furnaces, presses, machining, continuous steam-water treatment. Another EPMA PM Summer School is planned for July next year. Further information will be made available on the EPMA website early in 2013.

The groundbreaking online database GPMD was launched in 2004 as a joint project between the world's three leading regional PM trade associations, the EPMA and its sister organisations in North America (MPIF) and Japan (JPMA).

Since that time the database has been refined and extended to include the non-ferrous PM and MIM sectors with coverage of nearly 4000 lines of high quality data. In the latest development launched this week additional information covering recently introduced hybrid ferrous structural grades, based on the sinter-hardening material, FL-5108, and the diffusion-alloyed material, FD-0105 has been added. The data is displayed in a user-friendly format viewable in both tabular and graphic formats and it is hoped it will be of particular interest to design engineers in a range of industries.

Members of EPMA met together in Reims last week for their Annual Meeting.

Executive Board and Council meetings were held on 9th May, followed by an Annual Dinner at the Brasserie Flo, when participants were able to relax and enjoy an aperitif outside in the evening sunshine before their meal.

The EPMA General Assembly took place on the following day at the Reims Congress Centre which will be the venue for the 2015 Euro PM event. EPMA President, Mr Ingo Cremer, welcomed members to the the meeting and gave an overview of the current financial situation in Europe. Productive industry was essential for future prosperity, he said, and PM played a valuable part, providing goods for a global market, and maintaining a workforce with diverse professional skills. Mr Jonathan Wroe, Executive Director of EPMA, then gave an update of EPMA's activities over the past twelve months which focussed on research projects, the wide range of working group activities plus the success of the PM training courses and EuroPM 2011 Congress. He reported that the association has nearly recovered its membership numbers to pre- crisis levels and produced a positive financial result in 2011. Mr Jason Kaplan, Research Manager at Metal Bulletin gave a keynote speech focusing on "How Changing Commodity Fundamentals May Play to Powder Metallurgy's Strengths". Mr Kaplan highlighted how improved production efficiency and reduced recycling costs in the face of ever increasing raw material prices, and the demand for technological enhancements to meet environmental legislation, would strengthen the demand for powder metallurgy products. The annual meeting concluded with meetings of the European Structural Parts Group (ESPG). Next year's Annual Meeting will take place on 3rd/4th May 2013 in Munich.

The 18th March 2012 saw the first in what is planned will be a series of EPMA Short Courses.

The Elite Hotel Marina Plaza in Helsingborg, Sweden provided the venue for a highly successful two-day course on "Sintering – Fundamentals and Mass Production".

Sixty-five engineers and scientists from throughout Europe joined with twelve speakers drawn from both industry and academia to examine the practical capabilities and applications of sintering technology as applied to the powder metallurgy process. Lectures included: Fundamentals of Sintering – Theory and Practice; Sintering Atmospheres – Thermodynamics, Selection and Production; Analysis of a Typical Sintering Belt Furnace; Debinding/Delubing/Cooling and Sinterhardening amongst others. Participants had the opportunity to discuss and explore problems and case studies with the finest experts in the field.

As the subject of PM Sintering is quite complex, the EPMA plans to run a second Sintering Course in the Spring of next year focussing on Advanced Processes and Materials. Further information will be available on the EPMA website in the Autumn.

The EPMA general assembly is open to all members of EPMA. This year it will take place in Reims, France on 10th May.

Reims is situated in the heart of the champagne region in North East France. It is,moreover, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and offers a wealth of monuments and museums, from the Gallo-Roman to the modern era. The meetings will take place at the Palais des Congrès in the centre of Reims. 12 Bd du Géneéral Leclerc 51722 Reims, France Foe details visit the EPMA web site