CPT International 01/2015
The leading technical journal for the global foundry industry – Das führende Fachmagazin für die weltweite Gießerei-Industrie
The leading technical journal for the
global foundry industry – Das führende Fachmagazin für die
weltweite Gießerei-Industrie
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
INTERVIEW<br />
“GIFA is a unique opportunity<br />
for us!”<br />
Dr. Ioannis Ioannidis is Chairman of the Board of the VDMA Foundry Machinery specialist association<br />
and spokesman of the die-casting machine producer Oskar Frech from Schorndorf in Germany.<br />
In an interview with CP+T <strong>International</strong> Dr. Ioannidis speaks about his expectation regarding<br />
the <strong>International</strong> Foundry Trade Fair (GIFA) in June 2<strong>01</strong>5<br />
Dr. Ioannidis, how do you assess the<br />
development of the foundry machine<br />
sector in the run-up to GIFA?<br />
I am confident and expect a challenging<br />
business environment at the GIFA.<br />
But we have a very mixed sector: the situation<br />
appears restrained for the steel<br />
and iron casters while the die-casters<br />
and permanent mold foundries are experiencing<br />
a more positive business situation.<br />
To what extent a positive development<br />
in all areas will take place<br />
remains to be seen.<br />
tial<br />
in the iron and non-ferrous foundries?<br />
More materials will be combined with<br />
one another in future and this will result<br />
in new challenges for us. With<br />
these composite materials, what matters<br />
is using existing materials and<br />
combining them in such a way that<br />
components are created with better<br />
properties but lower production costs.<br />
The topic of resource and energy efficiency<br />
is also becoming increasingly<br />
important – we already saw this at<br />
the last GIFA, with the sustainability<br />
campaigns of the trade fair itself and<br />
the ecoMetals and Blue Competence<br />
campaigns launched by the German<br />
Engineering Association – and they<br />
will be exhibiting contemporary topics<br />
again in 2<strong>01</strong>5. Just like at Oskar<br />
Frech, many companies are presently<br />
considering energy and raw material<br />
consumption, and where savings<br />
can be achieved. The analyses that we<br />
have carried out here in the company<br />
are very promising. Light construction<br />
in automotive production is another<br />
important topic. Ever-smaller<br />
Dr. Ioannis Ioannidis with a structural component made from die-cast aluminum<br />
which was produced by a die-casting machine of Oskar Frech (Photos:<br />
VDMA)<br />
engines are being developed that have<br />
to provide ever-increasing performance.<br />
We need more resistant materials<br />
for this. I am also convinced that<br />
the SMEs here in Germany will invest<br />
more in automation because even in<br />
the Far East a lot is flowing into this<br />
area now. There is a major potential<br />
here, and a core topic is information<br />
technology. Evaluating data from production<br />
has not yet sufficiently penetrated<br />
the SMEs.<br />
6 Casting Plant & Technology 1/2<strong>01</strong>5
Change language