EuroBLECH goes digital

A new digital meeting place for the international sheet metal working community, the EuroBLECH Digital Innovation Series 2021, kicked off with an event focused on forming technology (including sheet metal parts and materials, as well as tool technology) from 27-28 April 2021.  More than 2,000 visitors registered for the event, with 1,384 visitors from 70 countries worldwide active on the event platform, which was the first in EuroBLECH’s digital series this year. The webinar sessions and product presentations were watched for a total of 467 hours.

“The new event series provides a meeting place for the global sheet metal working industry to trade, network and learn about the latest industry developments. Visitors can virtually meet relevant exhibitors, watch informative product presentations and follow webinars on current industry trends. Similar to a live event, there are several options for visitors to get in touch with exhibitors, pre-book meetings with exhibitors or instantly online chat with exhibitors as they browse the virtual platform,” explained the organiser, Mack-Brooks Exhibitions Ltd.

New product, technology and process innovations were presented by selected EuroBLECH Digital exhibitors. Visitors met presenters live and questions could be answered instantly. Companies presenting their latest developments from 27-28 April 2021 included Schuler Pressen GmbH; Durma and ZOOMFAB. Virtual meetings with exhibitors were arranged via the platform’s matchmaking functionality. The recorded webinar sessions and networking facility will be open for registered visitors to use until 7 May 2021.

The webinar programme

“A daily programme of webinars by industry experts provided an opportunity to gain useful insights into the latest market developments as well as technical expertise concerning new industry applications and solutions. Key players from the industry, as well as trade bodies, gave exclusive insights into the latest technologies and case studies on forming technology, including sheet metal parts and materials, as well as tool technology,” added Mack Brooks Exhibitions.

Dr. Norbert Wellmann, Managing Director, EFB (European Research Association for Sheet Metal Working), led the first webinar session on 27 April 2021 on ‘Forming Process Innovations and Trends’. It focused on increased efficiency in the press shop (due to continuous material and part tracking plus efficient material use through an optimised rollforming process). The session also featured Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG; Schuler Pressen GmbH; Technische Universität Dresden and Welser Profile GmbH.

A further webinar on 27 April 2021 highlighted the importance of the right material solutions for applications, to meet demand for improved properties and sustainable products.

“The focus was on novel fine grained austenitic stainless steel as well as a light frame solution for near-Zero-Energy Buildings,” said the event organiser.

A webinar session on measurement, monitoring and handling, on 28 April 2021, offered valuable insight into these industrial processes. It profiled a real-time electronic radius measurement system for pipe bending processes, springback prediction in wipe bending processes and vibration analysis for scratch detection on a vehicle safety part as well as flexible gripping solutions in hot forming.

A new press forming technology, Steel Tube Air Forming process (STAF) for automotive bodies and frames, was also in the spotlight in a further webinar session. This webinar also published the results of an EU-funded project for an ultra-fast hot stamping system with Artificial Intelligence.

Into the future

Evelyn Warwick, Event Director of EuroBLECH, Mack-Brooks Exhibitions said: “We are pleased with the results of the first event of the EuroBLECH Digital Innovation Series and thank all our exhibitors and participants for joining us at this important digital event for the sheet metal working industry in 2021. We have seen a high level of engagement both from visitors and exhibitors and the feedback we have received was positive and,of course, we will use the valuable feedback we receive after this first event to prepare for the following events in the EuroBLECH Digital Innovation Series in 2021.”

EuroBLECH itself is the world’s largest sheet metal working technology exhibition. Taking place every two years in Hanover, Germany, the event covers the entire sheet metal working technology chain. A total of 56,307 international visitors attended the event in 2018, and 1,507 companies from 40 countries exhibited there. The next EuroBLECH exhibition will be held in Hanover from 25-28 October 2022. For further details, see www.euroblech.com