The world of metal forming is facing rapid changes. Companies change ownership. The competition regarding lowest prices becomes more and more fierce. The number of component variants as well as processing technologies increases continuously.

The demand for functional parts with (ultra) high-strength properties is especially rising. In order to realize such challenging components, cold forming and hot forming technologies are applied in combination with highly advanced tool technologies, material concepts and sheet metals.

All of the above considerations contribute to the need of pushing forward purposeful innovations. This is why a special emphasis has to be placed on the information transfer via presentations and the communication between industry partners.

The main goal of the TTP2013 conference is to connect various faculties and industrial representatives, in order to promote an informal exchange of ideas in this eventful period of time.

I hope you spend some informative and interesting days here in Graz – the core of Europe.