WCIC – Looking Ahead: A Collection of Challenges
Ceremony and subsequent Welcome Reception and there is a shared intent for the International Investment Casting community to get together with our peers after so much time. The last World Conference was held in Paris in 2016, and before that, 6 years has passed. Now, as we are looking forward to meet again, there is a general sense that this is a new scenario, not easy to predict in the analysis made at Paris 2016. This was the background for the EICF to launch a Panel Session at the last EICF Conference in Santander with the objective to discuss and review those different issues affecting the industry today. Without pretending to provide the answers and
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solutions to all these key issues at least the review exposed by the panellists did provide with an analysis, points of view, experience and actions adopted. In the interest of a broader audience please find below a summary of the interactions and topics reviewed.
Energy and Electricity The IC is an intensive energy consumer in different forms with the incorporation of products and materials also intensive energy users. Important for companies to have a strategy of diversification of energy supply, making use of different sources, participation on energy communities and being involved in competitive energy purchases.
Protecting Business’ Profit Margin Economic evolution with higher rates of inflation, energy and materials cost rising creates a high pressure on business structure, precisely just after the pandemic on the recovery path. Ideas stressed to protect the business were related with negotiation with customers and suppliers, reduction of fixed costs and improvements on productivity. The win-win formula between customer and supplier has to be sustained via the practice of true transparency.
Supply Chain and Sustainability Beyond the issue of cost, suppliers to the industry find the issue of availability as the primal target to sustain the industry moving on, therefore, emphasis is put onto recycling which is an aspect who also has a positive impact on sustainability. For an industry already expert in recycling optimizing this with good practices is fundamental in minimizing waste on usable alloy revert which also has an impacts energy savings.
8 ❘ July 2022 ®
August 21st, the 15th World Conference on Investment Casting will be held at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California with an Opening
Attracting Young Talent On a medium or long term challenges the attraction and retention of new talent to the industry becomes of paramount importance. Enhancing visibility of the industry and its applications, remarketing the attractiveness of the IC technology opportunities for a career development, diversity focus and a revised value proposition more adapted to the younger generation requirements way of life were identified as necessary.
SMEs Competitiveness Are SMEs still a source of competitiveness among the big corporations’ competition? Confidence exists that SMEs have their own opportunities and market niches based on agility, flexibility and customer orientation whilst they provide higher versatility for professionals, engineers and managers.
Recovery Path Pandemic represented for many IC companies a sudden drop fall in their workload and activity which now is being stressed again through the recovery path. Once again Human Resources were identified as the most important challenge through the recovery path. Those companies that retained the personnel are better prepared to take the recovery path. However a new configuration in people’s value set relative to work is being identified and companies have to adapt to it to retain and attract new talent.
Outsourcing & Reshoring Low-cost outsourcing was scrutinized and the outcome of other sectors such as the semiconductors was analyzed. Are there any lessons to be learned? Clearly short-term business thinking should be revisited, and IP rights taken seriously. Association’s role in front of the authorities to reinforce the importance of the manufacturing industry and society contribution. Retaining manufacturing in Europe was also identified as a more efficient solution versus climate change as the overall carbon footprint was considered to be smaller based on more efficient processes and reduced logistics.
IC Competitive Technology Threats Once again, the AM coexistence of substitutive technology with IC was discussed. Overall understanding calls for a useful coexistence with IC supporting many of the intermedium process of the IC manufacturing technology including final parts for some cases and as consequence IC companies are invited to incorporate this technology as a supporting element of competitiveness.
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