Press release on the GIFA 2003 Fair in Düsseldorf

Exhibitors from all over the world presented their products in 15 halls on a surface area of almost 230 thousand square meters.
A number of symposiums and conferences thematically related to the foundry industry were run during the Fair. Poland was represented by twelve companies. It is noteworthy that the only Polish foundry which at the same time presented its castings at the NEWCAST and CASTART 4 fairs was Metalodlew S.A. from Krakow. The company from Krakow offered its clients steel, iron and non-ferrous castings for various branches of industry, as well as art castings. Among others, silver miniatures of Zygmunt's Bell were exhibited, produced by Metalodlew SA and presented to the Pope in November of last year by the Italian Parliament. The stand enjoyed the great interest of potential new clients, as well as clients with whom the company has cooperated for many years, among others from the mineral, machinery and power energy industries.

Companies from France, Belgium and Denmark expressed their interest in spheroidal iron castings for wind power stations, which Metalodlew SA successfully introduced to production two years ago.
The event was accompanied by the CASTART 4 exhibition, organized for the fourth time. The exhibition presented art castings from all over the world and from Poland. For the first time, the organizers decided to invite companies and artists from outside Germany. More than four hundred application forms were sent in. A Committee consisting of eleven members admitted to the exhibition 290 items created by 115 artists and 59 foundries. The objects exhibited were made of iron, steel, bronze, aluminum and high-alloy steel. Metalodlew SA exhibited four castings, three of which (Kokon (Cocoon), Portret Dziewczynki (Girl’s portrait) and Portret Prof. J. Aleksandrowicza (Portrait of Prof. J. Aleksandrowicz)) are by Karol Badyna, and one medal (Mefisto) by Kazimierz Adamski.
The International GIFA Fair has always enjoyed immense interest of exhibitors and visitors, due to the fact that there are very few events of this magnitude during which private persons and companies from a single industry meet.
Those who regularly visit GIFA have noticed the huge progress in the foundry industry in the last four years, as compared to the previous editions of the fair. During this year’s GIFA, the huge focus of the companies on environmental protection and health and safety of work was noticeable.
The technological solutions applied make it possible to produce increasingly sophisticated castings and of an increasingly high degree of processing, from materials which can fully guarantee optimum utility parameters of the castings.
Among the interesting objects to be seen, one could see scales to ladle cranes for weighing liquid metal up to 100 tons, manufactured by EHP Wagetechnik GmbH from Germany. An advantage of these scales is the fact that they are suited to operate at a temperature as high as 1400 degrees Centigrade.

FOSECO from the USA showed, for the first time ever, new-generation ceramic filters for filtering high-alloy steel, including manganese steel, up to 1000 kg. The purpose of these filters is to catch non-metallic inclusions from the stream of liquid metal prior to pouring it into the mould. So far, filters of up to 800 kg capacity and only for regular carbon steels and iron were used.
WÖHR from Germany, a manufacturer of machines and devices for the foundry sector, showed, among others, a WDS 20 mixer-pourer, purchased by Metalodlew S.A, which was shipped immediately after the fair and will be installed in Metalodlew SA. The start of operation of this new machine is planned for the end of July. Metalodlew SA purchased this machine in order to make the mould sand production process more effective. This fully-automated machine with a capacity of 20 tons per hour will be used for forming large castings, among others, for wind power stations. Thanks to the new machine, the moulding process will be several times shorter and the quality of the moulding sand will be of optimum parameters at all times. During the talks, the representatives of the two companies expressed their interest in further cooperation.
Companies from all over the world, not only producers of castings, but also manufacturers of devices and materials for the foundry industry, showed solutions which are and will be used for the production of castings. They showed trends and pointed to the directions of development of the entire sector. Specialists, technology engineers, and people who are responsible for production and sales met during a number of conferences and symposiums, where they exchanged experiences and discussed the problems emerging in production.