‘Bright World of Metals’ 2023 Highlights Sustainable Business and Technological Innovations

Düsseldorf, Germany – ‘Bright World of Metals’ scheduled from June 12-16, 2023 in Düsseldorf will boast plenty of highlights in the programme accompanying the ranges showcased by the over 2,100 exhibitors from 56 countries. The new programme features: ecoMetals Forum in Hall 9, Themed day ‘Green Thermoprocess Technology’ on June 12, 2023, Special Show ‘Castainability’ in Hall 13, ecoMetals Awards on June 15, 2023, and ecoMetals Studio – the new digital format.

With this, all four technology trade fairs—GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS, and NEWCAST—will be covering a wide spectrum of decisive topics that move the metallurgical industries and highlighting strategies for companies to tackle the transformation towards more sustainable business practices in theory and practice.

Politics meet business

On the first day, the programme of events supporting the quartet of world-leading trade fairs will have a very special highlight in store: a summit meeting between top industry decision-makers and politicians. Discussing on the panel will be Mona Neubaur, Minister for Economy, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia; Clemens Küpper, President, BDGuss; Dr Heike Denecke-Arnold, Chief Operations Officer, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG; Till Schreiter, General Manager, ABP Induction Systems GmbH; Burkhard Dahmen, Board Chairman, SMS Group GmbH; and Dr Ioannis Ioannidis, Spokesman, Management Board, Oskar Frech GmbH & Co KG (June 12, 2023 from 4.30 pm to 5.30 pm in Hall 1, Room 115).

Breaking new ground is the name of the game: ecoMetals Forum and themed day ‘Green Thermoprocess Technology’

The ecoMetals campaign, which has been the ‘green heart’ of the Bright World of Metals since 2011, will be extended to include numerous new formats this year. June 15, for example, will see the ecoMetals Forum ‘Metals4Sure’ held at THERMPROCESS in Hall 9, Stand D74 for the first time. Here metallurgical technologies, processes, and applications will be center stage. The sector’s comprehensive decarbonization know-how helps to make proven metal production and forming processes increasingly sustainable. The energy transition from a fossil-nuclear system to a renewable-based energy supply for industrial manufacturing marks a radical change that requires innovations, investment, and continuous improvements. Thermal processes and their comparatively high energy consumption are the key to this transition. These aspects will be especially illuminated and discussed as part of the themed day ‘Green Thermoprocess

Technology’ on June 12, 2023. Conference speakers will include Matthias Zelinger, Head, Climate & Energy, VDMA; Matthias Rehfeldt, Fraunhofer-Institute for System and Innovation Research, ISI; Carsten Gondorf and Nico Schmitz, both Department of Industrial Furnaces and Heat Engineering, RWTH Aachen; René Gail, Project Management, Jülich (PtJ); Joachim G Wünning, FOGI – Research Association for Industrial Furnace Engineering; Nadine Barthel, Cluster Decarbonisation in Industries (CDI); Egbert Baake, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Leibniz University Hannover; and Hartmut Krause, Technical University Bergakademie (Mining Academy) Freiberg.

Partner of the ecoMetals Forum is the Metallurgy Association of the VDMA – German Machinery and Equipment Manufacturers’ Association, which also organizes the THERMPROCESS Forum in cooperation with the ‘Forschungsgemeinschaft Industrieofenbau e. V.’ (Research Association for Industrial Furnace Engineering (FOGI)). The conference language of all of these events is English; participation is free for all trade fair visitors.

Special Show ‘Castainability’ and NEWCAST AWARD

The GIFA and NEWCAST Halls 10 to 17 are the meeting point, for the international foundry industry, not least owing to the wide-ranging activities undertaken by the German Foundrymen’s Association (VDG e.V.) and the Confederation of the German Foundry Industry (BDG e.V.). The focal themes of this year’s forums are measures that make the foundry industry fit for a climate-neutral future.

Celebrating a premiere here is the Special Show ‘Castainability’ at the BDG Stand C17 – F68 in Hall 13, which demonstrates to visitors just how sustainable casting can be. While castings for lightweight automotive construction and renewable energies have already featured on the agenda of NEWCAST in the past, the strength and innovation potential of casting as a ‘forming process’ also becomes evident when facing the challenges of decarbonizing industrial processes, the transition to e-mobility, and climate-neutral heating technology. On June 14, 2023, the most innovative castings by international NEWCAST exhibitors will be presented with the famous NEWCAST Award.

Steel trade fair METEC and its ESTAD and EMC congresses

An unbeatable success trio is METEC with its congresses European Steel Technology and Application Days (ESTAD) and European Metallurgical Conference (EMC). From June 12-6, at ESTAD, Europe’s biggest steel conference, everything will revolve around the material green steel and the challenges currently faced on a path towards climate-neutral manufacturing processes. During the METEC trade fair and its concurrently held conference, experts will provide answers to pressing technology questions, thereby contributing to the global success of the steel industry. For steel producers, upstream suppliers, and users, the 5-day conference is an absolute industry highlight. The 6th ESTAD will be organized by Stahlinstitut VDEh.

EMC is the most important conference for non-ferrous metallurgists in Europe. Every two years, more than 400 metallurgists, scientists, and decision-makers from throughout the world come together to discuss current challenges in their field. The motto at this year’s EMC will be ‘CO2-neutral and Autonomous Energy Supply’. Leading topics include hydrogen, lithium, and decarbonization. The agenda encompasses more than 90 exciting lectures and discussions related to hydro- and pyrometallurgy on the topics of circular economy and recycling, Industry 4.0, and process virtualization. Held exclusively in English, the conference is organized upon invitation of GDMB – Gesellschaft der Metallurgen und Bergleute e. V. (Society of Metallurgists and Miners) and targets metal producers, plant builders, and service providers, as well as universities and engineering offices.

THERMPROCESS successful with Forum and Special Show

Theory and practice will also go hand in hand at the THERMPROCESS events – the FOGI Special Show by the ‘Forschungsgemeinschaft Industrieofenbau e. V.’ (Research Association for Industrial Furnace Engineering) and the THERMPROCESS Forum of VDMA’s Metallurgy Association. At the THERMPROCESS Forum renowned exhibitors will present innovative processes and solutions revolving around thermal process technology, and the digitalization of processes and plants. The lecture programme reflects the current challenges and development drivers for thermal process technology providers and will also deal with how thermal process technology contributes to recycling for an integrated circular economy. Experts from universities and institutes will facilitate the individual sessions of exhibitors. Participation in this expert meeting is free for THERMPROCESS trade visitors.

Complementing the lectures at the Forum, renowned research institutes active in thermal process technology will present their fields of activity and current research at the FOGI Special Show in Hall 9, Stand C42.

ecoMetals – following in the footsteps of the green pioneers

A number of well-known exhibitors at the trade fair quartet will also be taking part in the ecoMetals campaign, which has been committed to sustainable and energy-efficient products and solutions since 2011. ecoMetals has now become an integral part of Messe Düsseldorf’s brand family. At the four trade fairs international trade fair guests will easily find their way to the ‘green pioneers’ among exhibiting companies thanks to specially marked stands and guided tours, the so-called ecoMetals Trails. Participants include ABP Induction Systems, Achenbach Buschhütten, Advanced Energy Industries, AGTOS, ANDRITZ, ASK Chemicals, BDG, Didion International,

Fill Gesellschaft, Foseco/Vesuvius, Hüttenes-Albertus, HYDRO, Inductotherm, KMA Umwelttechnik, MAGMA, Norsk Hydro, Norican, Otto Junker, Oskar Frech, Primetals, SMS Group, Tenova, and WS Wärmeprozesstechnik. The Trails organized by Messe Düsseldorf are free for trade fair visitors and depart from the Nord Entrance area every day.

ecoMetals Awards for outstanding solutions and innovations

On June 15, 2023, at 5.00 pm the motto at the ecoMetals Forum in Hall 9 will be: curtains up for the most outstanding technological achievements and innovations presented by exhibitors for an efficient industry that is gentle on the environment. Celebrating their premiere this year, the ecoMetals Awards will be presented in the three categories of ecoProcess, ecoEnergy, and ecoTechnology. Also new to the ecoMetals Forum will be the ecoMetals Science Slams from 10.00 am to 2.00 pm on June 16, 2023. These ‘elevator-pitch’ like lectures address current trends in the energy-intensive foundry and metallurgy industry such as sustainability, resource savings, and energy efficiency.

Live TV coverage of the trade fairs

Another new format debuting at the Bright World of Metals 2023 is the ecoMetals Studio, which can be found in the immediate vicinity of the Press Center, on the 1st floor of the Messe Center. The studio will host exciting panel discussions and interviews with experts, and the partner Vulkan Verlag will feature daily live reports from the exhibition halls, thereby enhancing the digital content available on the portals of GIFA-METEC-THERMPROCESS-NEWCAST.

Metals4you

Next to ecoMetals, young talent promotion is THE topic that is moving the metallurgical industries. As an attractive high-tech location and successful export nation on the global market, Germany requires an excellent education system and skilled technicians. In addition, many job profiles in these industries have undergone a considerable image change that many young people are unaware of. But how do enterprises and young talents find each other? Thanks to the young-talent scheme Metals4you a unique platform has been created for tomorrow’s talents. The initiative provides students from the age of 15 as well as first-year university students and apprentices with access to innovations and employers in the metallurgy and foundry industries from Monday to Friday. In cooperation with the conceptual sponsors, the Confederation of the German Foundry Industry (BDG), the Trade Association for Foundry Chemicals (Industrieverband Giessereichemie – IVG), the Steel Institute VDEh, as well as the Machinery and Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (VDMA), attractive services were developed with enterprises and education institutes in mind.

European Foundry Women’s Award

They do exist – successful women in the ‘Bright World of Metals’ and yet, there are still too few of them represented in the metallurgical industries. June 15, 2023 will see the CAEF Award being presented to one of these foundry women who is an extraordinary leader, a pioneer, a mentor, or a role model for women in the metal-casting industry: at 2.00 pm in Hall 13, Stand D07.

Image Source: Messe Düsseldorf