By Megha Patel 

[CLEVELAND, OH, March 25, 2024] – The Forging Industry Association (FIA), the only organization dedicated to serving the North American forging industry for over 111 years, has been appropriated five million dollars from Congress for fiscal year 2024. The funds will help bolster and innovate the domestic forging industry through R&D projects aimed at developing robotics and automation solutions, simulation tools for materials characterization and material sources diversification. These efforts will support the warfighter through the partnership between the Army Research Lab and FIA.

“FIA is very excited to promote the domestic forging industry and expand our support of the Department of Defense. This historic investment will help accelerate the rate our industry can provide forgings for critical applications to ensure defense readiness and national security,” shared FIA President & CEO, James R. Warren.

The 2022 Executive Order on Securing Defense-Critical Supply Chains highlighted forgings as one of the four focus areas due to its significant importance to national security. The report stated, “Many of these parts are high importance/low-volume and minimal demand items that support critical go-to-war weapon systems and platforms that affect military readiness.” The funds appropriated will help FIA address and achieve the goals depicted in the report.

In relation to this appropriation, FIA has announced a formal request for white papers in collaboration with the Army Research Lab (ARL). ARL will consider FIA member and non-member white paper submissions for funding. The primary objective of this opportunity is to maximize the probability of project results transitioning to implementation within the industry. ARL desires projects led by the forging industry, specifically companies that are forging producers or suppliers. Other organizations may support the project, and ARL would support projects involving as many organizations as needed to execute the project, provided the project is led by the forging industry. White paper selection is subject to the submissions received and the criteria outlined on FIA’s website at www.forging.org/white_papers. All questions related to this white paper submission process and collaboration with ARL can be directed to [email protected]. 

About the Forging Industry Association

The Forging Industry Association headquartered in Independence, Ohio, represents the North American forging industry. With more than 230 members, forging producers and suppliers, the membership accounts for 75% of forging capacity in North America and the suppliers provide equipment, materials, and technical services to the industry. FIA is the only one of its kind in North America that offers process-specific, training, educational and technical services, as well as a common voice on legislative and regulatory issues. FIA, along with its predecessor organizations, has served the forging industry since 1913.