JOINT CONFERENCE

From all points of view the Pittsburgh Pipe & Tube 2010 conference was successful

The second conference co organised by the ITA and the US based TPA took place recently in Pittsburgh, attracting more than two hundred participants. A previous highly rated joint event in Houston in 2007 was a hard act to follow but by all accounts the latest one proved to be even better.

Drawing on the theme “Technology for profitable production” the two day conference provided delegates with twenty technical papers,  three market overview presentations, five video plant tours, four round table discussions and fifty two table top exhibits.  Despite being US- based, Pittsburgh Pipe & Tube drew speakers and delegates from Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, India, Canada, Austria, Russia, Ukraine and China.

Pittsburgh conference session

A keynote presentation was made by Dr Chris Kuehl, the FMA’s economic analyst. His thought-provoking paper “manufacturing recovery – fact or fiction?” was very well received. The round table discussions focussed on various aspects of tube making including tooling optimization, cutting and fabrication and finishing and engendered lively debate.  Video plant tours were a welcome innovation at the conference with particular interest shown in the one from China presented by Bao Steel.

Table top exhibition was an excellent opportunity for networking

Although a full evaluation of the joint event by the ITA and TPA committees is yet to take place there are early indications that future collaborations will be welcomed by both organisations.

A conference CD-rom of the presentations is available from the ITA Secretariat for £50 (or equivalent in € or US$) or FREE to any organisations applying for or upgrading to ITA corporate membership before 31 December 2010. (Please see separate news item).