PREVIEW | AISTECH 2025 Lifting steel to new
With AISTech 2025 fast approaching, OCH fired off some questions to Ken Landau, AIST staff engineer, to dig into what attendees can expect from the leading event as it comes to Nashville this May.
AISTech (The Iron & Steel Technology Conference and Exposition) is a premier event for the global steel industry, bringing together professionals, innovators and experts to explore the latest advancements in iron and steel manufacturing. Organised by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST), the event features a dynamic conference programme, cutting-edge technical sessions and a world-class exhibition showcasing state-of-the-art technologies, equipment and solutions. AISTech serves as a key platform for networking, knowledge sharing and driving the future of steel production, making it an essential gathering for industry leaders, engineers and decision-makers. Staff engineer Ken Landau tells us more.
How do overhead cranes and hoists fit into the broader discussions at AISTech 2025? It’s obvious that overhead cranes eliminate the bottlenecks in all steel mills. Without them, the processing equipment would outpace the ability for mobile material handling equipment to both feed and remove the product within the space boundaries of the facility. But it is the job of all crane operators and management to keep their cranes reliably operating with the safest practices possible to eliminate downtime and accidents involving both product and people. To this end, if they are able to maintain those high standards, then the spotlight is elsewhere, which is preferred. The broader discussions will be on how to get younger people working in the steel industry and breaking down the obstacles that hinder the proper advancement of deserving folks, including women.
What key trends in material handling, lifting technology and automation will be highlighted at the event? Safety is always a priority and there are a number of presentations for enhanced safety such as state-of- the-art training and continuous wire rope condition monitoring. There will be other presentations from automation experts on collision avoidance both for crane-to-crane and no-fly zones, as well as crane monitoring and diagnostics.
Are there any planned sessions or keynote presentations focused on advancements in crane automation, predictive maintenance or safety in material handling?
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I would argue that all 16 presentations that will be given within either the Crane sessions or the Material Handling/Transportation & Logistics session will be focused on one or more of those advancements.
What role do Industry 4.0 and smart factory solutions play in the event’s discussions on steel manufacturing? The steel industry is continually improving and implementing Industry 4.0, which offers a lot of possibilities. The industry can’t change overnight so it has been pushing initiatives that can be done by offering the largest improvements or safety at a lower initial cost. Examples can be automation that removes a person from harm’s way such as lifting devices that don’t require a person to manipulate it around the load or automated coil storage bays that don’t require or allow a person in the coil field while taking away any human errors such as setting a coil in the wrong place or pulling the wrong coil.
Given the growing emphasis on workplace safety, will there be sessions addressing lifting best practices, compliance and accident prevention? There are a number of presentations on safety. Purdue Northwest will be presenting on a safety training module that can be adapted to specific situations and scenarios to allow the student to experience situations using computer generated visuals without being in physical danger.
Are there any case studies being presented on improving efficiency and reliability in steel mill material handling? There is a case study titled ‘Optimization of Steel Plate Storage Yard Crane Scheduling’. This paper addresses the steel plate storage yard crane scheduling problem, focusing on minimising both the number of crane movements and the loading time in a large steel shipyard.
How does AISTech 2025 reflect the latest global trends in steel mill logistics and heavy lifting? In addition to the technical presentations, the numerous domestic and international exhibitors from crane builders to automation retro fitters to component suppliers are all showcasing the latest technologies the world has to offer.
Which international companies are bringing new perspectives on crane and hoist applications to the show? With over 650 exhibitors at AISTech 2025, the possibilities are endless. Searching “crane” on the exhibitor list brings up 153 different exhibitors with many of them being international companies from Germany, Italy and Asia. The fascinating part of this type of show is that something that one company is doing for a particular sector of the process may not have even thought of using their technology in another, including crane and hoist applications.
For further information, visit
www.aist.org/conferences-expositions/ aistech/home
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