Marc Sibun, Managing Director of Lemarc Engineering, said they were “proud to have taken part in the conference” and thanked the organisers for “a spectacular event.”
The conference attracted a record attendance from industry, suppliers as well as academics and consultants from Australia and New Zealand along with many international delegates from Thailand, USA, Canada, Middle East, China, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and the UK.
The technical programme on the conference theme Aluminium in a Competitive Environment was opened by George Collins, Swinburne University of Technology. This was followed by presentations on a diverse range of topics from equipment innovations to efficient extrusion processing, control systems, quality billet supply and meeting customer needs. While certainly competitive, there was a friendly banter between presenters from different organisations particularly in question time and a great vibe for the entire event. The technical program was complimented by the trade exhibition featuring AIMS, Foy Inc, Presezzi Extrusion, SMS Group and Turla, and supported by the sponsors Lemarc Engineering, Swinburne, Materials Australia and platinum sponsor Rio Tinto Alcan.
In conjunction with the conference there was a training workshop, convened by Chris Jowett and featuring world-class experts, and the site tour to Capral Bremer Park and INEX Loganlea extrusion operations. These events were well subscribed and offered a great opportunity for the visitors to view firstly a large high volume operation handling a huge diversity of extruded profiles and finishes, and then a new installation with state of the art equipment. Sven Gade, Capral, was quick to point out that he expected the visitors to be so impressed that they would cease their operation knowing that their competitors were so advanced!
The organisers, conference chair Ivan Grasis, myself as deputy and Caryn Morgan from CMA Events, were delighted with the conference and the support from all those involved. We will ponder another event in 2018 if the industry is again behind it.
Photo Caption – Aluminium International Today was a media partner of the event and delegates were given a free copy, which they seemed to enjoy!
Article by Barbara Rinderer, Consulting in Partnership Pty Ltd
