Tobias Hain concluded the session by noting the significant shift in the forging industry towards sustainability, highlighting the need for clear targets and collaboration along the supply chain to achieve their demanding carbon reduction goals.
The networking sessions provided an opportunity to hear from attendees about their reasons for joining the event. Underscored was the unity of forging companies in the quest for carbon reduction in response to societal demands.
On the second day, technical presentations and a factory tour took center stage
Delegates had, in the latter a chance to explore Ovako's groundbreaking fossil-free hydrogen plant and witness the forging and ring rolling facilities.
- Patrik Holm, Ovako Group Senior R&D Engineer, delved into the advantages of forging over rolling, introducing the innovative "best of both worlds" forged-rolled production flow.
- Patrik Ölund, Head of Ovako Group R&D, shared insights into forging steel production, covering various scrap-based metallurgical routes that offer flexibility in properties, dimensions, and quality.
- Me, Erik Claesson, Ovako Director, Automotive Segment and Business Intelligence, emphasized the need for global standards to define CO2 footprint in product specifications, favoring the "cradle to gate" approach. As we are all pro the mother-earth aspect, we simply need to work with absolute figures in a standardized manner.
In closing, Ovako as the primary host for EUROFORGE, highlighted three key takeaways: the availability of Near Zero Emission engineering steel in significant quantities, the measurability of CO2 emissions, and the importance of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) based on cradle to gate figures. The event demonstrated the forging community's dedication to achieving carbon reduction targets that once seemed formidable, now calling for clear and precise targets from customers.
