4/8/2021: The ongoing seven-week virtual staging of the Fundamentals of Wire Manufacturing Course (Fundamentals) continues to reflect the demand that exists in the industry for basic information.

Of note, the program will be repeated in a hybrid form at Interwire 2021. The current program—seven consecutive sessions (two presentations each) started on consecutive Wednesdays that began March 17 and concludes April 28—presents a comprehensive education. Topics covered include: mechanics of wiredrawing/drawing dies and lubricants; wire breaks and surface damage; stranding cable; cleaning and coating of rod and wire; ferrous heat treatment and metallurgy; extrusion; testing; marking/printing; and manufacturing problem solving. Each course is presented by industry veterans, and provides 30 more minutes than the traditional in-person program.

Attendance during the Covid-19 period has been quite good. Registration for a three-part WAI webinar program by Dr. Horace Pops—also a Fundamentals presenter—closed out at 500 before the first one (annealing) was held on Jan. 27, followed by fines on Feb. 3 and wire breaks on Feb. 10.
In terms of the ongoing Fundamentals series, registration reflects a continuing trend of more companies signing up multiple staffers. Mexico’s Viakable had 31 participants: 11 from Colombia, four from Brazil, three from the U.S. and 13 from Mexico.

“I believe this is a great opportunity for expanding the benefit of this course to a much broader base considering the value proposition in terms of money and time invested for this high-quality content,” said Raúl Garcia, Viakable’s director of technology and development.