Burkhard Dahmen, Chairman of the Managing Board at SMS group GmbH, is the new president of METEC, the International Metallurgy Trade Fair with Congresses, which takes place from June 25 to 29, 2019. Born in Düsseldorf, Burkhard Dahmen was appointed at today’s executive board meeting of the trade fair quartet GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS and NEWCAST. This replacement became necessary due to former METEC president Guido Kleinschmidt leaving the SMS group. “This year’s METEC has a particular trend-setting significance due to the dramatic upheavals in our industry. For some years now, megatrends such as digitalisation, Industry 4.0, additive manufacturing and responsible use of natural resources have dominated discussions among steel manufacturers and processors as well as their suppliers on a daily basis,” says Burkhard Dahmen, summing up current challenges.
The “Bright World of Metals” excels with a record number of registrations: Around 2,100 international exhibitors will take part in the world’s leading trade fairs for foundry and metallurgy technology GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS and NEWCAST from June 25 to 29. In twelve halls, exhibitors will present the whole range of foundry technology, casting products, metallurgy and thermal processing technology. The list of participating nations spans the world, from A for Australia to U for United Arab Emirates. No other trade fair in the world offers visitors from the fields of economics, research, development and education such a virtually complete overview of the industry. The international reach of the fair quartet will be correspondingly large this year as well. Traditionally, more than half of the 78,000 visitors expected to attend will travel from overseas and different parts of Europe to Düsseldorf, the world capital of the “Bright World of Metals.”