Supply chains and logistics are an integral and important part of a successful manufacturing operation. They have always been so, but with the advent of the COVID-19 virus and its having shut down the world’s economy for a time during a period of global quarantine, supply-chain issues have since taken center stage for consumers and manufacturers alike.

Welcome to my inaugural column in Industrial Heating. I have long been listed as a contributing editor for IH, and I am happy and privileged to make my columnar debut. 

For three days in late October, Motown played host to 1,300 attendees and 129 exhibitors at Forge Fair 2021. It was not the largest show ever, but – after having been cancelled twice in 2020 – the enthusiasm by the show’s attendees in doing business person-to-person again was unbounded. The next Forge Fair will take place in Cleveland, Ohio, May 23-25, 2023.

FIA will hold Forge Fair 2021 on Oct. 26-28 in Detroit, Mich., at TFC Center (formerly Cobo Center). This article, geared to the novice and lightly experienced trade-show attendee, will give tips on how to make the most of your time on the exhibit floor and in the technical sessions.

Forge Fair 2021 will be upon us later this month, and it may be a good time to consider some regulations and rules regarding trade shows. Legal Ease touched on this very subject in 2019, concentrating on unscrupulous acts by competitors at and away from the trade-show floor.

As a business owner, you have limited options when seeking capital to start or grow your company. Essentially, there are three sources of cash: your own cash investment or that of other investors, your bank and cash from the daily operations of the company.

Customers in the forging community often treat the procurement of forgings as they would a commodity product. This article discusses the pitfalls of selling forgings as a commodity and promotes the reasons to sell forgings on their value, not their price.

After a longer-than-normal, COVID-19-related hiatus, FIA will resume its Forge Fair cycle. Forge Fair 2021 will be held at Detroit’s TCF Center starting October 26 and ending on October 28. This article will give you all the pertinent information to start planning your Forge Fair experience.

Here are some key areas to enhance your relationship with your bank.

The U.K.’s Sheffield Forgemasters is being acquired by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to support a substantial recapitalization of the company’s defense-critical plant and equipment over the next 10 years. The investment will secure Sheffield Forgemasters’ role as a critical supplier to the next generation of U.K. defense programs while continuing its independent commercial activities, serving markets such as civil nuclear, oil and gas, power generation, renewables and steel processing.