Welcome to FIA's newest member, ACEROS FORJADOS ESTAMPADOS in Monclova, Mexico. Aceros Forjados is a custom producer of carbon and alloy steel tractor parts, gears couplings and sprockets.

Efrain E. Cantu Aranda, General Manager, will serve as Official Representative to FIA. (52 866-636-0216)

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Plan to attend the Forging Industry Association Annual Meeting of Members at the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel in Lake Buena Vista (Orlando), Florida, May 5-6. This year's meeting has been shortened somewhat to preserve Members' time and budgets for the 19th International Forging Congress which will take place this Fall in Chicago, replacing the usual Fall Meeting of Members.

The meeting opens Monday morning, May 5, with an optional strategic planning session hosted by FIERF. The outcome of the professionally facilitated four hours will be project ideas that will serve as FIERF's technology and research to-to list in the coming years. Please indicate your attendance on the registration form.

The planning session will be followed with an opening lunch on Monday afternoon, and conclude on Tuesday May 6. An optional golf tournament will be held Tuesday afternoon.

• The agenda will include speakers and issues of interest across the business spectrum...
• Election 2008 Preview with Frank Barnes
• Member Panel Comments on FIA China visit
• Doing Business with China with John Brandt
• The Economy in 2008 and Beyond
• Combating Piracy & Counterfeiting
• FIERF and IFC Updates
• Business Roundtables

In addition, the meeting will host the presentation of the 2007 Safety Awards.

Full meeting program and registration details are available by clicking here. Printed programs are also available by contacting FIA.

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• Mechanical Fundamentals
• Physics Fundamentals
• Forging Materials
• Contact Fundamentals
• Thermal Fundamentals
• Forging Operations
• Forging Equipment
• Simulation Software
• Forging Die Failures
• Extend die life

The â??Theory and Applications of Forging & Die Designâ?? school continues to evolve, reflecting new insights into forging technology and the wide availability of metal flow simulation software. This four-day school is taught by a team of industry experts and engineering professors who work together to carefully explain principles and practice. We urge you to join the 1000+ forging employees who have already attended this course.

For additional information on the Die Design School, (Click here) to view/print the full Program, or contact George Layne: 216-781-6260, glayne@forging.org

Please Note: This will be the only offering of this program in 2008

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FIA is seeking volunteers for committee work in areas of: Plant Engineering/Operations, Government Affairs/Public Policy, Safety & Health, and Technical. New committee terms start July 1st.

Committees plan, develop and initiate practical, useful activities for all association members. Committee participation is career broadening and personally rewarding. The networking experience is invaluable.

Committee time is generally pegged to 3 or 4, one-day meetings per year. Much coordination is by conference call and electronic means to save time and cost.

For additional information please contact directly:
Government Affairs/Public Policy: Charlie Hageman - charlie@forging.org
Plant Engineering / Operations: George Layne - glayne@forging.org
Safety & Health: George Layne - glayne@forging.org
Technical: George Mochnal - george@forging.org

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FIA is pleased to announce another record breaking year, with 110 forging facilities participating in the Injury and Illness Survey. On an even more impressive note, the forging industry reported a 14% reduction in their DART Rates, (Days Away from work, work Restrictions, or job Transfer cases).

Based on the results of the Survey, FIA recognizes the companies with the best safety record.

Awards are given in each of the four groups established according to average annual employment as follows:

1. Up to 80 employees
2. 81 to 175 employees
3. 176 to 325 employees
4. Over 326 employees

First, second and third place Safety Awards are given in each group for companies having the lowest Recordable Cases Incidence Rate provided that the DART Incidence Rate falls below the group average. In the event that Recordable Incidence Rates are equal, the lower DART Incidence Rate will determine the award.

Improvement Awards are given in each group for the company experiencing the greatest improvement in the DART Incidence Rate. This award is determined by percentage of improvement by DART Incidence Rate compared with the last three years average.

A certificate of recognition is awarded to each company not receiving a first, second or third place award whose Recordable Incidence Rate falls below the group average provided that the DART Incidence Rate also falls below the group average.

(Click here) to view/print list of Safety Award Winners.

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Buyers, engineers, material specifiers and others interested in locating a forging producer in North America can now receive the 2008 FIA Custom Forging Capability Guide (FCG) at no charge. Like its printed predecessor, it contains location and facilities listings of all FIA Member custom forge shops, forging market and process descriptions and graphics, and a "Special Capabilities" column that further defines forging company capabilities, making it easier for customers to select prospective sources.

The primary purpose of this Guide is to promote the capabilities of FIA members and the forging process to forging customers and prospects. Over 1000 were distributed in 2007 - by request - throughout the customer purchasing and design engineering community .

Please keep in mind that a fully searchable and constantly updated version of the Guide is available on FIA's Web Site www.forging.org. (Click on Buyers Guide.) This electronic version is consistently one of the most viewed sections of the FIA website, averaging about 1000 visitors each month! Furthermore, member custom forgers are encouraged to advertise on this page to reach this audience looking for forging producers. Click on Web Ads under FIA Member Services on the FIA website for more information.

Customers/prospects may receive a complimentary copy of the CD version by visiting www.forging.org/cd. Copies of the CD are also available to all FIA members for $25.00 each and to FIA non-member forging and supplier companies at $100.00 each. Contact FIA at 216-781-6260 or pat@forging.org.

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The latest forging end use market forecast from Global Insight has been posted on the FIA website. This Spring edition details each market with a graphic backed up by a written report giving you more of the 'why' behind each forecast. This in turn will make the forecast more useful in business planning and market forecasting. The full report is lengthy, but designed with market headers so you may go directly to the section or market of interest. FIA Members click here and then Market Forecast to see the latest report.

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The FIA Website is celebrating its 10th Anniversary by recording over 49,000 visits, from 110 Countries, for the month of March 2008. This is the third highest single month visit count in the Site's history, compared to March 1998 when the Site recorded an overwhelming 1,475 Visits.

(Click here) to view/print full Statistical Report.

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The Forging Defense Manufacturing Consortium's National Forging Tooling Database Team is ready to roll out an Automated Order Alert Process. Forges possessing dies associated with government National Stock Numbered parts will be alerted of current procurements that will require existing forging tooling. With early notification, a forge can assess die quality, determine metal lead times and metal costs all of which could be compiled into pre-positioned quotes. Forges with dies in the National Forging Tooling Database will receive this service fee of charge. FIA members are encouraged to update their data within the NFTD by working with the NFTD Team. Forges should contact Mr. Doug Vanslembrouck (dvan@plex.com) to update their data.

The NFTD is still available on the FIA website for members' use. Click on http://www.forging.org/members/docs/haystack.cfm for details and access to the database.

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The preliminary meeting program and registration documents for the 17th International Forgemasters Meeting (IFM 2008), November 3-7, 2008 in Santander, Spain are available at the Conference website www.ifm2008.com.

Some details of the conference are still under development, however your attention is drawn to the registration form which is available for use online or for download. Early registrants before July 25, 2008 will receive a discounted conference fee.

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