28. November 2017
On occasion of the seventh annual meeting on November 22, 2017, about 150 representatives from 72 out of 76 member companies met at the Hotel Pullmann Aachen Quellenhof. Over the years, the community meeting of the WBA has established as a valuable platform for a profitable cooperation and a sustainable exchange in the tool and die industry.

The continuous growth of the WBA was emphasized by introducing four new member companies and two further honorary members, by publishing five new expert studies as well as by presenting the new premise of the WBA located at the Cluster Production Engineering on the RWTH Aachen Campus. Next to current developments of the WBA, the results from our projects of 2017 as well as the ten project proposals for 2018 were presented during the annual meeting. Within the scope of these projects, WBA members will jointly conduct research on future issues such as “digital networking” and “process linking”.

In the second part of the annual meeting, the WBA granted fascinating insights into the new premises on the RWTH Aachen Campus. In collaboration with eight cooperation members, the WBA demonstrated latest developments of the tool and die industry within the „Erlebniswelt Werkzeugbau“ (interactive world toolmaking) as well as the own demonstration tool shop. These innovative, high-tech, and partially fully automated solutions include the comparison of circle segment cutter and conventional ball cutter, the automation plant „Chameleon Quad“, the Pro Leis planning system as well as an indoor GPS and smart glasses.

Our community meets twice a year – once in Aachen and once at the location of one of our members. As already announced, the upcoming semiannual meeting will take place at the Pöppelmann GmbH & Co. KG in Lohne on May 15 and 16 2018. Please save the date!