- Email: [email protected]
A breath of fresh air from Hamburg
Metal Powder Report Volume 72, Number 1 January/February 2017
SPECIAL FEATURE
metal-powder.net
A breath of fresh air from Hamburg Liz Nickels Liz Nickels visited World PM2016 in Hamburg and got swept up in a general atmosphere of optimism and innovation – despite the clouds of Brexit on the horizon. . . The powder metallurgy (PM) market has well and truly dusted itself off from the troubles it was experiencing ten years ago. This year’s World PM2016, organized by the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) and held in Hamburg, Germany reflected, as ever, the spirit of the industry. The biggest event yet, it attracted over 400 oral and poster presentations and a strong attendance in excess of 1900 participants visiting over 200 stands covering companies from all parts of the PM supply chain. I didn’t spot many new products or technologies at the show, ¨ gana¨s’ powder metal gears caught my eye. Developed but Ho as part of its Powder Metal Gearbox Initiative (PMGI), the gears are suitable for high load carrying automotive transmission applications. ‘The 6-speed manual PM gear transmission we are showcasing at World PM2016 in Hamburg has been tested for durability, abuse and vibrations and the car it is installed in has now been running on the roads for more than 70,000 km without any issues,’ said Eckart Schneider, director, commercial development ¨ gana¨s. ‘We see it as living proof of the amazing potential PM at Ho of PM technology in future transmission gear applications.’
Old and new There were, however, many new exhibitors to the show – notably EOS, one of the AM industry’s pioneers in direct metal laser sintering. I spoke to Juha Kotila, of EOS Finland, who was confident the company would return to World PM2017. ‘This has been a good opportunity for us,’ he affirmed. ‘Also, we have made a lot of important contacts here.’ I asked him if he thought that the presence of AM companies at World PM2016 would increase.
E-mail address: [email protected].
‘Yes, yes definitely,’ he replied. ‘We have just seen the start of the growth so it will expand. It might be interesting to go to a more end-user based show to see what kind of companies participate. ‘We’ve had lots of people visiting the stand, and some of them have been very knowledgeable about additive manufacturing. Others haven’t been so much, but they have heard about it and want to hear more.’ In comparison, one of the older ‘hands’ at the show was Hoeganaes, whose delegates found World PM2016 as friendly as ever. ‘It is nice to meet again with the ‘family’, good friends, and customers of course,’ said Dr Klaus Vossen, sales manager, Europe, who I spoke to during a spare moment on the Hoeganaes stand. ‘This year has had a really outstanding number of delegates – 1,600 plus a couple of hundred day visitors. So I think it’s really a great success.’ The company’s very impressive structure was Hoeganaes’ biggest one yet, according to Dr Vossen. ‘Yes, and we’ve had a lot of planned visitors and plenty that have just come to see what we’re up to. ‘Currently the industry is not going through the roof but it’s very solid and stable,’ he affirmed. ‘I expect that to be the case at least until the end of the year.’ So business as usual perhaps, except that Dr Vossen noted that part makers were in larger groups this time. ‘So sometimes 10 people from one company.’ Jurgen Vandoren, manager of customer service EMEA at Rio Tinto, another steel powder producer, also felt very positive about the event. ‘The show environment is really nice and there are a lot of people,’ he said. ‘There are always lots of new opportunities and that’s the main thing that the fair is about, and of course to be successful and to enjoy it.
0026-0657/ß 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mprp.2016.12.061
25
SPECIAL FEATURE
Visitors to the Rio Tinto stand also reflected the global nature of the show. ‘Since we are a production space in Canada we’ve had some people from Canada visit us, and also some Spanish customers,’ Vandoren said. ‘Our office in Germany is also attending the fair. So it’s quite international, and of course the customers are also international. Germany is a very important market for the PM industry, but we also get a lot of customers from other countries in Europe, but mainly Europe and a couple of Asian ones as well.’ SPECIAL FEATURE
Whole system One interesting development happening in the industry which was shown in relief at World PM2016 was the development of ‘whole system solutions’ for AM – by which I mean 3D printing machine manufacturers, or other engineering companies, offering their machines as part of a whole system including powder provision, calibrating testing, AM, and finishing of all kinds. Companies currently focusing on this trend include SLM, Siemens and Concept Laser. For example, Siemens’ product lifecycle management business has developed a system integrating design, simulation, digital manufacturing, data and process management software for AM. I had an interesting discussion with Paul Rose, the commercial director of Atomising Systems, who has a wealth of PM experience,
Metal Powder Report Volume 72, Number 1 January/February 2017
about where this might leave powder metal manufacturers – in particular companies that are focusing a great deal on fine-tuning powder specifically for AM, such as Pyrogenesis. Are they going to be left out of the cold because they are unable to give a total solution? Or will they, like LPW, whose PowderLife product range now includes powder handling and testing equipment and quality control software for industrial users of 3D printers, be able to supply a ‘whole system solution’ of their own? The EPMA had some new faces following the sad loss of Jonathan Wroe, executive director, last December. Both Dr Lionel Aboussouan, deputy executive director and Philippe Gundermann, president of the EPMA executive board took time out of their busy schedules to talk to me about their vision for the industry, and the EPMA in particular, over the next few years.
State of the industry ‘Powder metallurgy in Europe has shown a very strong and sustained growth in recent years,’ Philippe told me. ‘In 2015, which is the last year where we have statistics, in Europe total power production amounted in total 232,000 tonnes in terms of parts produced which would have given around a 3% increase to that in 2014, where we experienced 228,000 tonnes of parts produced all over Europe. This growth has been sustained by the big driver of PM: the automotive industry, which now
World PM2016 in excess of 1900 participants visiting over 200 stands covering companies from all parts of the PM supply chain. 26
Metal Powder Report Volume 72, Number 1 January/February 2017
3D printing promise Of course, we discussed the topic of additive manufacturing (AM) – one that was on everybody’s lips during the show, and which prompted a great deal of interesting papers during the conference (although I was pleasantly surprised to listen to one paper by Jobe Piemme, CTO of Praxis Technology, which showed that for a particular application – an orthopaedic implant – had better results being made via MIM than AM, showing that AM is certainly not a catch-all solution). ‘Of course, recorded sales are still very low,’ said Philippe. ‘Currently, the world market for metal AM is close to US$100 million, which means that it is not big, but still it is there! There has been an absolutely incredible increase over the last three years, which shows that a lot of people and companies are being equipped with machines and are starting to make prototypes of different types. ‘So what we see in AM is the development of materials that were not possible before and shapes that were also not possible before,’ he explained. ‘There is a freedom of design. Like, for example a component that has won an award here made by Airbus, which is a bionic partition to go inside the plane. That kind of design is absolutely not possible with classic machining.’ ‘People in manufacturing are starting to understand that AM opens a new way of thinking and new ways of design. [However,] each sector has its own innovation programs, its own challenges, its own strengths and weaknesses.’
Unique strength Philippe did however – naturally – extoll the special nature of European industry. ‘In Europe I believe our unique strength is the
EOS was at the show for the first time, displaying its range of 3D printed metal parts. 27
SPECIAL FEATURE
accounts for almost 18 million PM parts produced in Europe. This is more or less back to pre-crisis figures. ‘Metal injection molding (MIM) sales in Europe in 2015 have surpassed s300 million, which confirms there is a continued and sustained growth in this sector, with a significant growth from year to year,’ he said. ‘This means that the MIM market in Europe is of the same order of magnitude as the MIM market in the USA and North America as a whole now, which is a very good achievement. Besides that, within MIM there are other innovations going on such as bimetal components. However, the hardmetal sector was affected by the sourcing of tungsten. ‘Production in 2015 was equal to 14,000 tonnes altogether – more or less the same levels of the past years. However, industry in Europe is facing strong competition from other areas and, of course, in Europe the sourcing of tungsten is part of the key strategy for our hardmetal users. This is especially in relation to areas where tungsten is produced, such as China, which accounts for 83% of the world tungsten reserves. ‘Nevertheless, European hardmetal enjoys a very strong customer base, especially in mining, construction and in general all manufacturing and engineering areas.’ So the hardmetal arena is in perhaps the same place the rare earth metals industry was a few years ago. Raw materials also affected the hot isostatic pressing (HIP) sector. ‘It has suffered a lot in 2015 from the very low oil and coal prices. As a result, a lot of projects have been suspended due to the very low oil prices, and HIPping activities in Europe have declined. However, we have seen the emergence of a new innovations in HIPping, such as parts for aerospace.’
SPECIAL FEATURE
SPECIAL FEATURE
SPECIAL FEATURE
quality of the supply chain. What is unique in powder metallurgy is that the success comes from the cooperation, starting from powder production to the end usage, going from the powder to the consolidation, whether that be AM, HIPping or MIM. There are very strong presences all along the chain, including equipment manufacturers of furnaces, presses, hydrogen suppliers and so on, which bring the community together around an idea. European PM’s size is around s10 billion which is very significant. World PM2016 illustrates this too – there are 1,700 participants, 1,700 participants, registered today [Tuesday].’ World PM continues to have more and more of a global focus. ‘The show is more international too. We see a lot of people coming from Asia, also people coming from Iran for the first time. We are used to having a strong relationship between Europe, North America and Asia, perhaps because we are in the middle.’ I asked Philippe about his plans for the EPMA next year. ‘For me, the EPMA’s focus is on building links between industry and Europe in terms of developing regulatory activities,’ he stated. ‘The key mission is to develop PM, by organising technical events, promoting the different technologies, organising educational programs like our Summer Schools. Developing the PM industry also means organising club projects between members to foster innovation and find links between the supply chain players within Europe. In our Road Map 2025 vision we clearly say that we do believe that based on a strong, established PM industry all players have a bright future because PM is lean, clean, innovative and fast moving.’ Philippe’s colleague, Dr Aboussouan also spoke to me about the EPMA’s future.
Metal Powder Report Volume 72, Number 1 January/February 2017
done with other members. At the end of the project they the partners can decide to keep the technology for themselves, because they paid for it, or to diffuse it outside.’
The big break World PM2016 took place not long after Britain, to the surprise of almost everybody, voted to leave the EU, with all the repercussions to industry that might bring. Both Philippe and Lionel were laudably circumspect about the UK’s decision. I asked them how they thought Brexit might affect the PM industry in particular. ‘Well, the UK will still be part of Europe, if not the EU,’ said Dr Aboussouan. ‘Within the EPMA we already have people/companies/members from countries that are not within EU boundaries, so the UK can remain part of it. While the EPMA’s office is in the UK, we are a Belgian organization. So it will be business as usual, at least until the Brexit comes into force from business view point, what should take some years.’
Young engineers ‘For this year the biggest challenge was World PM2016,’ Lionel said. ‘For next year one of the challenge will be focusing on young engineers, students and end users.’ ‘It’s clear that the PM industry, along with other more industrial STEM subjects, need to give some young people an extra push to see the benefits of this unique technology.’ Dr Aboussouan has ambitions plans for EPMA training. ‘Currently we run the Young Engineers Day, and one Summer School. However, next year I would like to run several events to attract new people, especially non-members and end users,’ he said. The current School is very oriented towards ‘PM for PM specialists’ that is, those who are already employed or do research in the PM arenabut the new focus will be ‘PM for non-PM specialists’ - such as designers, users and students who are new to PM, or know that it exists. Next year we will start small with a two-day event, and if it is a success then we will transfer this into one full week. Then we would have one week’s school for PM specialists, and one for nonPM specialists, but these non-specialists will have to be people from universities who are enthusiastic about the technology.’ ‘The plan is to run courses and internships in member companies for those studying masters in a related subject. It would be great to be able to steer future engineers into PM. They will learn about PM from the EPMA, and about specific businesses from their internship.’ Developing new technology is also key. ‘We will also be focused on club projects,’ he said. ‘Club project are when someone has a good idea, and you find a university that will go after the proposal, and form a budget for research to be 28
Juha Kotila, of EOS Finland: ‘This has been a good opportunity for us.’
Philippe felt positive that while Brexit might shake the PM industry, it would fundamentally remain strong. ‘I don’t believe [Brexit] will have an effect of measurable magnitude because companies are very strong in the PM sectors,’ he affirmed. ‘While it has been a shock, it has not yet broken out into a crisis. Even if the exchange rates between Euro and Sterling and other currencies have been a little bit shaken, it has not generated a financial crisis or general big alarm.’ ‘In powder metallurgy the UK is a player among others, not the biggest industry in Europe and there are other important markets in Germany, of course, as well as Sweden, Denmark and
SPECIAL FEATURE
the rest of Northern Europe. France and Spain are in a fair situation, too.’ Besides which, he said, things are still at a fairly early stage. ‘The day the 80,000 page Brexit treaty is signed and ratified by the 25 parliaments, it will not stop any production line from one day to the other in my eyes.’ ‘I do feel personal anger about Brexit, but UK citizens have voted the way that they have voted and now they have to handle the situation because as your prime minister said, Brexit means Brexit!’ EPMA; www.epma.com
29
SPECIAL FEATURE
Metal Powder Report Volume 72, Number 1 January/February 2017
SPECIAL FEATURE
metal-powder.net
A breath of fresh air from Hamburg Liz Nickels Liz Nickels visited World PM2016 in Hamburg and got swept up in a general atmosphere of optimism and innovation – despite the clouds of Brexit on the horizon. . . The powder metallurgy (PM) market has well and truly dusted itself off from the troubles it was experiencing ten years ago. This year’s World PM2016, organized by the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) and held in Hamburg, Germany reflected, as ever, the spirit of the industry. The biggest event yet, it attracted over 400 oral and poster presentations and a strong attendance in excess of 1900 participants visiting over 200 stands covering companies from all parts of the PM supply chain. I didn’t spot many new products or technologies at the show, ¨ gana¨s’ powder metal gears caught my eye. Developed but Ho as part of its Powder Metal Gearbox Initiative (PMGI), the gears are suitable for high load carrying automotive transmission applications. ‘The 6-speed manual PM gear transmission we are showcasing at World PM2016 in Hamburg has been tested for durability, abuse and vibrations and the car it is installed in has now been running on the roads for more than 70,000 km without any issues,’ said Eckart Schneider, director, commercial development ¨ gana¨s. ‘We see it as living proof of the amazing potential PM at Ho of PM technology in future transmission gear applications.’
Old and new There were, however, many new exhibitors to the show – notably EOS, one of the AM industry’s pioneers in direct metal laser sintering. I spoke to Juha Kotila, of EOS Finland, who was confident the company would return to World PM2017. ‘This has been a good opportunity for us,’ he affirmed. ‘Also, we have made a lot of important contacts here.’ I asked him if he thought that the presence of AM companies at World PM2016 would increase.
E-mail address: [email protected].
‘Yes, yes definitely,’ he replied. ‘We have just seen the start of the growth so it will expand. It might be interesting to go to a more end-user based show to see what kind of companies participate. ‘We’ve had lots of people visiting the stand, and some of them have been very knowledgeable about additive manufacturing. Others haven’t been so much, but they have heard about it and want to hear more.’ In comparison, one of the older ‘hands’ at the show was Hoeganaes, whose delegates found World PM2016 as friendly as ever. ‘It is nice to meet again with the ‘family’, good friends, and customers of course,’ said Dr Klaus Vossen, sales manager, Europe, who I spoke to during a spare moment on the Hoeganaes stand. ‘This year has had a really outstanding number of delegates – 1,600 plus a couple of hundred day visitors. So I think it’s really a great success.’ The company’s very impressive structure was Hoeganaes’ biggest one yet, according to Dr Vossen. ‘Yes, and we’ve had a lot of planned visitors and plenty that have just come to see what we’re up to. ‘Currently the industry is not going through the roof but it’s very solid and stable,’ he affirmed. ‘I expect that to be the case at least until the end of the year.’ So business as usual perhaps, except that Dr Vossen noted that part makers were in larger groups this time. ‘So sometimes 10 people from one company.’ Jurgen Vandoren, manager of customer service EMEA at Rio Tinto, another steel powder producer, also felt very positive about the event. ‘The show environment is really nice and there are a lot of people,’ he said. ‘There are always lots of new opportunities and that’s the main thing that the fair is about, and of course to be successful and to enjoy it.
0026-0657/ß 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mprp.2016.12.061
25
SPECIAL FEATURE
Visitors to the Rio Tinto stand also reflected the global nature of the show. ‘Since we are a production space in Canada we’ve had some people from Canada visit us, and also some Spanish customers,’ Vandoren said. ‘Our office in Germany is also attending the fair. So it’s quite international, and of course the customers are also international. Germany is a very important market for the PM industry, but we also get a lot of customers from other countries in Europe, but mainly Europe and a couple of Asian ones as well.’ SPECIAL FEATURE
Whole system One interesting development happening in the industry which was shown in relief at World PM2016 was the development of ‘whole system solutions’ for AM – by which I mean 3D printing machine manufacturers, or other engineering companies, offering their machines as part of a whole system including powder provision, calibrating testing, AM, and finishing of all kinds. Companies currently focusing on this trend include SLM, Siemens and Concept Laser. For example, Siemens’ product lifecycle management business has developed a system integrating design, simulation, digital manufacturing, data and process management software for AM. I had an interesting discussion with Paul Rose, the commercial director of Atomising Systems, who has a wealth of PM experience,
Metal Powder Report Volume 72, Number 1 January/February 2017
about where this might leave powder metal manufacturers – in particular companies that are focusing a great deal on fine-tuning powder specifically for AM, such as Pyrogenesis. Are they going to be left out of the cold because they are unable to give a total solution? Or will they, like LPW, whose PowderLife product range now includes powder handling and testing equipment and quality control software for industrial users of 3D printers, be able to supply a ‘whole system solution’ of their own? The EPMA had some new faces following the sad loss of Jonathan Wroe, executive director, last December. Both Dr Lionel Aboussouan, deputy executive director and Philippe Gundermann, president of the EPMA executive board took time out of their busy schedules to talk to me about their vision for the industry, and the EPMA in particular, over the next few years.
State of the industry ‘Powder metallurgy in Europe has shown a very strong and sustained growth in recent years,’ Philippe told me. ‘In 2015, which is the last year where we have statistics, in Europe total power production amounted in total 232,000 tonnes in terms of parts produced which would have given around a 3% increase to that in 2014, where we experienced 228,000 tonnes of parts produced all over Europe. This growth has been sustained by the big driver of PM: the automotive industry, which now
World PM2016 in excess of 1900 participants visiting over 200 stands covering companies from all parts of the PM supply chain. 26
Metal Powder Report Volume 72, Number 1 January/February 2017
3D printing promise Of course, we discussed the topic of additive manufacturing (AM) – one that was on everybody’s lips during the show, and which prompted a great deal of interesting papers during the conference (although I was pleasantly surprised to listen to one paper by Jobe Piemme, CTO of Praxis Technology, which showed that for a particular application – an orthopaedic implant – had better results being made via MIM than AM, showing that AM is certainly not a catch-all solution). ‘Of course, recorded sales are still very low,’ said Philippe. ‘Currently, the world market for metal AM is close to US$100 million, which means that it is not big, but still it is there! There has been an absolutely incredible increase over the last three years, which shows that a lot of people and companies are being equipped with machines and are starting to make prototypes of different types. ‘So what we see in AM is the development of materials that were not possible before and shapes that were also not possible before,’ he explained. ‘There is a freedom of design. Like, for example a component that has won an award here made by Airbus, which is a bionic partition to go inside the plane. That kind of design is absolutely not possible with classic machining.’ ‘People in manufacturing are starting to understand that AM opens a new way of thinking and new ways of design. [However,] each sector has its own innovation programs, its own challenges, its own strengths and weaknesses.’
Unique strength Philippe did however – naturally – extoll the special nature of European industry. ‘In Europe I believe our unique strength is the
EOS was at the show for the first time, displaying its range of 3D printed metal parts. 27
SPECIAL FEATURE
accounts for almost 18 million PM parts produced in Europe. This is more or less back to pre-crisis figures. ‘Metal injection molding (MIM) sales in Europe in 2015 have surpassed s300 million, which confirms there is a continued and sustained growth in this sector, with a significant growth from year to year,’ he said. ‘This means that the MIM market in Europe is of the same order of magnitude as the MIM market in the USA and North America as a whole now, which is a very good achievement. Besides that, within MIM there are other innovations going on such as bimetal components. However, the hardmetal sector was affected by the sourcing of tungsten. ‘Production in 2015 was equal to 14,000 tonnes altogether – more or less the same levels of the past years. However, industry in Europe is facing strong competition from other areas and, of course, in Europe the sourcing of tungsten is part of the key strategy for our hardmetal users. This is especially in relation to areas where tungsten is produced, such as China, which accounts for 83% of the world tungsten reserves. ‘Nevertheless, European hardmetal enjoys a very strong customer base, especially in mining, construction and in general all manufacturing and engineering areas.’ So the hardmetal arena is in perhaps the same place the rare earth metals industry was a few years ago. Raw materials also affected the hot isostatic pressing (HIP) sector. ‘It has suffered a lot in 2015 from the very low oil and coal prices. As a result, a lot of projects have been suspended due to the very low oil prices, and HIPping activities in Europe have declined. However, we have seen the emergence of a new innovations in HIPping, such as parts for aerospace.’
SPECIAL FEATURE
SPECIAL FEATURE
SPECIAL FEATURE
quality of the supply chain. What is unique in powder metallurgy is that the success comes from the cooperation, starting from powder production to the end usage, going from the powder to the consolidation, whether that be AM, HIPping or MIM. There are very strong presences all along the chain, including equipment manufacturers of furnaces, presses, hydrogen suppliers and so on, which bring the community together around an idea. European PM’s size is around s10 billion which is very significant. World PM2016 illustrates this too – there are 1,700 participants, 1,700 participants, registered today [Tuesday].’ World PM continues to have more and more of a global focus. ‘The show is more international too. We see a lot of people coming from Asia, also people coming from Iran for the first time. We are used to having a strong relationship between Europe, North America and Asia, perhaps because we are in the middle.’ I asked Philippe about his plans for the EPMA next year. ‘For me, the EPMA’s focus is on building links between industry and Europe in terms of developing regulatory activities,’ he stated. ‘The key mission is to develop PM, by organising technical events, promoting the different technologies, organising educational programs like our Summer Schools. Developing the PM industry also means organising club projects between members to foster innovation and find links between the supply chain players within Europe. In our Road Map 2025 vision we clearly say that we do believe that based on a strong, established PM industry all players have a bright future because PM is lean, clean, innovative and fast moving.’ Philippe’s colleague, Dr Aboussouan also spoke to me about the EPMA’s future.
Metal Powder Report Volume 72, Number 1 January/February 2017
done with other members. At the end of the project they the partners can decide to keep the technology for themselves, because they paid for it, or to diffuse it outside.’
The big break World PM2016 took place not long after Britain, to the surprise of almost everybody, voted to leave the EU, with all the repercussions to industry that might bring. Both Philippe and Lionel were laudably circumspect about the UK’s decision. I asked them how they thought Brexit might affect the PM industry in particular. ‘Well, the UK will still be part of Europe, if not the EU,’ said Dr Aboussouan. ‘Within the EPMA we already have people/companies/members from countries that are not within EU boundaries, so the UK can remain part of it. While the EPMA’s office is in the UK, we are a Belgian organization. So it will be business as usual, at least until the Brexit comes into force from business view point, what should take some years.’
Young engineers ‘For this year the biggest challenge was World PM2016,’ Lionel said. ‘For next year one of the challenge will be focusing on young engineers, students and end users.’ ‘It’s clear that the PM industry, along with other more industrial STEM subjects, need to give some young people an extra push to see the benefits of this unique technology.’ Dr Aboussouan has ambitions plans for EPMA training. ‘Currently we run the Young Engineers Day, and one Summer School. However, next year I would like to run several events to attract new people, especially non-members and end users,’ he said. The current School is very oriented towards ‘PM for PM specialists’ that is, those who are already employed or do research in the PM arenabut the new focus will be ‘PM for non-PM specialists’ - such as designers, users and students who are new to PM, or know that it exists. Next year we will start small with a two-day event, and if it is a success then we will transfer this into one full week. Then we would have one week’s school for PM specialists, and one for nonPM specialists, but these non-specialists will have to be people from universities who are enthusiastic about the technology.’ ‘The plan is to run courses and internships in member companies for those studying masters in a related subject. It would be great to be able to steer future engineers into PM. They will learn about PM from the EPMA, and about specific businesses from their internship.’ Developing new technology is also key. ‘We will also be focused on club projects,’ he said. ‘Club project are when someone has a good idea, and you find a university that will go after the proposal, and form a budget for research to be 28
Juha Kotila, of EOS Finland: ‘This has been a good opportunity for us.’
Philippe felt positive that while Brexit might shake the PM industry, it would fundamentally remain strong. ‘I don’t believe [Brexit] will have an effect of measurable magnitude because companies are very strong in the PM sectors,’ he affirmed. ‘While it has been a shock, it has not yet broken out into a crisis. Even if the exchange rates between Euro and Sterling and other currencies have been a little bit shaken, it has not generated a financial crisis or general big alarm.’ ‘In powder metallurgy the UK is a player among others, not the biggest industry in Europe and there are other important markets in Germany, of course, as well as Sweden, Denmark and
SPECIAL FEATURE
the rest of Northern Europe. France and Spain are in a fair situation, too.’ Besides which, he said, things are still at a fairly early stage. ‘The day the 80,000 page Brexit treaty is signed and ratified by the 25 parliaments, it will not stop any production line from one day to the other in my eyes.’ ‘I do feel personal anger about Brexit, but UK citizens have voted the way that they have voted and now they have to handle the situation because as your prime minister said, Brexit means Brexit!’ EPMA; www.epma.com
29
SPECIAL FEATURE
Metal Powder Report Volume 72, Number 1 January/February 2017