The Wire Association International (WAI), Inc. announces details of its annual conference program, offered May 9-11 in conjunction with INTERWIRE at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Presentations include two keynote addresses; a featured speaker; focused sessions on Industry 4.0, the Workforce, and Extrusion/Polymers; Industry Outlook panel sessions; nine technical sessions; a Mordica lecture; and production solution demonstrations as outlined below. All are included with Conference and Exhibit registration.

WAI’s popular Fundamentals of Wire Manufacturing course is offered as a pre-show option on May 8 for those either new to the industry or in need of a refresher.

KEYNOTES
Srinivas Siripurapu, Chief Innovation and R&D Officer, Prysmian, delivers his keynote address on May 9: “Innovation, Investments & Incentives – Electrifying the wire and cable industry for a brighter future.”

Rich Stinson, President and CEO of Southwire Co. presents “The future is electrified!” on May 10.

FEATURED SPEAKER
Dr. Mary Ellen Weber, astronaut, executive, aviator, and scientist presents: “To boldly go: The experience of space flight” on May 10. Dr. Weber offers a second presentation that afternoon at the WAI Theater in exhibit Hall A titled: “A new era of space travel: Commercial space, NASA, tourism, the Moon, and Mars.”

INDUSTRY 4.0 SESSIONS
• “How AI will change wire & cable manufacturing,” Willem Sundblad, Oden Technologies.
• “The future of industrial work: How Smart AI is helping to unlock the true potential of today’s workforce,” Russ Fadel, Augmentir.
• “Unleashing the full potential of Industrial IoT with GPT-3,” Andrés Cartagena Ruiz, 40Factory.
• “Lessons from the journey to a connected enterprise, Will Berry, Sr. VP engineering and modernization, Southwire Co.

WORKFORCE SESSIONS
• “Behind the numbers…Establishing world class safety and training programs,” Rob Caillet, VP of environmental, health and safely, Encore Wire.
• “The state of the manufacturing workplace,” Matt Dionne, Managing partner, TYGES Executive and professional search firm.
• Executive panel: Adapting to the workforce challenges with senior industry leaders. Moderator Drew Richards, president RichardsApex; Panelists: Joe Barrett, president, Davis Wire; David Fisher, president, James Monroe Wire & Cable.

EXTRUSION/POLYMER SESSIONS
• “Advanced extrusion technology,” Mikko Lahti, R & D director, Maillefer Extrusion.
• “Polymer technology for wire and cable applications,” David Lindsay, market manager-energy, North America, Borealis.
• “What are you risking by using outdated controls on your extruder?”, Scott Barlow, CEO, Integrated Control Technologies.

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK
• “Can the cable industry avoid the impending economic downturn?” Aisling Hubert, editor, CRU.
• Executive Panel – “Steel Market.”
• Executive Panel – “Copper Supply and Demand.”

Conference and Exhibit registration also includes presentations at the WAI Theater in exhibit Hall A, featuring:

TECHNICAL SESSIONS
• “In-situ evaluation of the performance of wire drawing using multiple sensors.”
• “The future of industrial work - How Smart AI is helping to unlock the true potential of today’s workforce.”
• “Inline surface dimensional flaw detection and outer diameter/ovality measurements using laser line triangulation.”
• “Manufacturing high-quality fine copper wire at a low cost by combining three-roll rolling and wire drawing.”
• “Application of polymer lubricants to replace zinc phosphate in wire drawing.”
• “Thermo-mechanical and air patenting in modern rolling: characteristics and advantages.”
• “Achieving high quality in wire using eddy current testing.”
• “Inline profiling of magnet wires for e-mobility.”
• “UPCAST oxygen free copper rod metallurgy, OFHC/OFE wire manufacturing, and other practicalities.”

MORDICA LECTURE
Presentation by Dr. Bruce Kiefer, “Ferrous rod – Before it gets to be wire.”

PRODUCTION SOLUTION DEMONSTRATIONS
Manufacturing challenges and common process hurdles are reviewed at these live demos offered May 10 and 11 featuring:
• “Factors affecting wire production from precoats to lubricants.”
• “Wire breaks.”
• “Wire drawing die material and profile specification considerations.”

EXHIBITS
300 exhibiting companies participate at the INTERWIRE marketplace to showcase the latest products and developed technologies available to wire and cable manufacturers; 80 product categories are represented. WAI introduces more than 30 new exhibiting companies to the INTERWIRE this year.

Conference and exhibit schedule, details, and registration information is available on the event website: www.interwire23.com.

EVENT BACKGROUND:
Introduced in 1981, INTERWIRE is the largest and longest-running wire and cable marketplace in the Americas. Hosted biennially, Interwire is an international trade event that includes exhibiting companies, speakers, and visitors from more than 50 countries.

WAI, founded in 1930, is a not-for-profit association with more than 2000 individual members in 50 countries. The association serves the educational needs of the wire and cable manufacturing industry through a variety of products and services. WAI manages the Interwire Trade Exhibition and the WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo and publishes the Wire Journal International and the Wire Journal International Reference Guide.

Three officials of U.K.-based Alloy Wire International (AWI) have purchased the business from the owners through a buy-out.

A press release said that Managing Director Tom Mander, Technical Director Andrew Du Plessis and Finance Director Adam Shaw have completed the deal. “This is another major milestone in the history of AWI and gives us the platform to capitalize on recent growth and massive export opportunities,” Mander said. He noted that the owners have over 45 years’ combined experience of working here. “It was a natural progression for us to step forward and take the business on, with previous Managing Director Mark Venables moving to Chairman for the next five years and R&D Director Angus Hogarth taking a consultancy role.”

Per the company website, this marks the third such MBO change for the 77-year-old company. In 1991, the management team of Bill Graham, Len Deeley, Martin Cobb, Paul Wiltshire and Tony Tonks led a management buy-out. Mark Venerable joined the company in 2010 and became managing director in 2011, with Graham becoming chairman. In 2013, the management team of Venerables, Angus Hogarth, Ian Fitzgerald and Pete Lambe bought the company. “There’s something very special about this business and this MBO ensures we maintain and cultivate this for the next 75 years,” Manser said.

The company notes that it has a solid global customer base that is 6,000 strong. It has targeted annual sales of £15 million, which would be a new high. Supporting that goal, the company plans to make investments of nearly £1 million this year that will include new wet drawing and single-hole dry drawing machines, an annealing line spooler and several hundred metric tons of raw material.

AWI has two state-of-the-art factories and a network of 45 international offices. It supplies sectors that include aerospace, nuclear, automotive, chemical, electronic, medical and oil and gas.

Venables said that he is delighted that the new owners have come from within the company. “The new management team are well versed in the Alloy Wire International culture and will also bring a youthful exuberance, passion, and eagerness to innovate traditional processes and industry norms. They have already ring-fenced significant investment for the next five years and are keen to work on increasing our international network of agents, with discussions currently taking place on establishing a bigger presence in Egypt and the Middle East. ... I’m really looking forward to seeing how Tom, Adam and Andrew take the business forward.”