An interesting news item from the Dayton Daily News appeared in early March. Metalcasting industry equipment and technology supplier Palmer Manufacturing  & Supply Inc., Springfield, Ohio, had 15 potential customers fly in from South America (on their own dime) for a conference and to visit several area metalcasters and view the equipment Palmer supplies.

The news item struck a chord because we are thinking about the 2011 GIFA trade shows, including NEWCAST, a show dedicated to bringing metalcasters from around the world together with prospective customers. For those of you not familiar with this show, to be held in Dusseldorf, Germany, June 28-July 2, it is the world’s largest dedicated to metalcasting. Typically, 80,000 attendees descend on Dusseldorf for the five days to see the latest and greatest technology from across the globe. The problem is that the last two GIFAs we attended in 2007 and 2003 haven’t been attended well by U.S. metalcasters and casting buyers. Some would say we were noticeably absent.

While we agree that the every-three-year CastExpo is THE North American metalcasting show, we must keep abreast of all the happenings around the world, and GIFA is the perfect place to accomplish this goal.

Palmer’s customers flew from South America to learn about potential technology. We can fly to Germany to do the same.