The Shapemakers by The Aluminum Extruders Council

What are EPDs and What Do the Newly Released AEC EPDs Tell us? Guy Charpentier, Chairman of the AEC Industry Promotion Steering Committee and Division Marketing Director for Bonnell Aluminum, talks with Lynn Brown, AEC's Industry Promotion & Marketing Consultant, about Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). They discuss what EPDs are, how they are developed and how they are used. They also rev...

Jeff Henderson, AEC President,  and Robert DeFrancesco, AEC's Fair Trade lead attorney, will discuss the latest developments in the Kingtom case. Specifically, they will examine the reversal of the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) decisions and the Withhold Release Order (WRO). Customs and Border Protection (CBP) implements Withhold Release Orders to prevent merchandise produced in whole or in part...

The competition for today's talent has never been more fierce. Young talent graduating and searching for a career are faced with a variety of options and most manufacturing companies are struggling to find ways to attract this needed talent to help them run and grow their business. The aluminum extrusion industry is no exception. Duncan Crowdis, leader of AEC's Academic Engagement and New Talent D...

ET '22 will feature a Closing Keynote address by special guest, astronaut Mike Massimino. At ET Mike will talk about his experiences as an astronaut and fixing the Hubble Telescope. In this preview interview, Mike discussed his "stellar" career as well as his stint on the American television sitcom "The Big Bang Theory".  Be sure to catch Mike Massimino in the Closing General session on Thursday,...

AEC Die Clinic, one the Council's most popular educational workshops, is being offered for the first time at ET – and is available to nonmembers of AEC. This program, which has trained hundreds of die professionals over the past 25+ years that the Die Clinic has been offered, provides those involved in extrusion die operations with a well-rounded education from experienced extruders and die makers...

Craig Werner, ET Seminar Committee Chairman talks with Lorenzo Donati, Associate Professor of Manufacturing Technologies in the Department of Engineering for Industry at the University of Bologna in Italy. Dr. Donati and his colleague, Dr. Barbara Reggiani, will be conducting their workshop during ET Week in Orlando, Florida, on Monday, May 2, 2022. Discover what you will learn in this course that...

ET Chairman Craig Werner talks with Professor Wojtek Misiolek,  Director of the Loewy Institute at Lehigh University, and  top-rated instructor of AEC's popular Extrusion Excellence Course. Learn about this one-day course, which will be offered two times at ET '22, from the extrusion process expert who brings theory and practice together, providing a fundamental engineering approach to the aluminu...

Duncan Crowdis and Craig Werner provide an overview of the Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition, the benefits for students and instructors and they talk with a student, Andrew Schoenjahn, from Grand Valley State University in Michigan, and leader of the GVSU Design Club.  Andrew shares his thoughts on how the Design Competition will help his fellow Design Club members in their future careers and...

Olivier Gabis of Wagstaff, Inc., the Track Chair for the ET '22 Billet Process Track, discusses the highlights of the BP Track with ET '22 Chair Craig Werner. Safety, billet metallurgy, microstructure, impact of alloys on mechanical properties, new technologies, and more will be included in this essential track. Also, get a preview of all the options you can expect at ET by ET Vice Chair Jerome Fo...

Rob Nelson, Executive Vice President of Almag Aluminum and ET Value-Added Processes Track Chair talks with ET Seminar Committee Chair Craig Werner and Vice Chair Jerome Fourmann about some of the highlights of the papers in this track. From fabrication and finishing to machine learning and Industry 4.0, the Value Added Track covers a diverse set of subjects that will help extruders better understa...

Hear what you can expect when attending the Management Issues (MI) Track at ET '22 this May in Orlando, FL. ET Seminar Committee Chair Craig Werner and ET Vice Chair Jerome Fourmann talk with MI Track Chair Jason Weber, V.P. of Sales and Marketing at Taber Extrusions, who discusses the type of topics you can expect to hear and some of the highlights of the papers in this track. From automation and...

ET '22 Chairman Craig Werner and ET Vice Chair Jerome Fourmann discuss what to look forward to at ET '22 this May in Orlando, FL. Frank Kraft, ET Extrusion/Die Theoretical (TH) Track Chair, talks about technical paper highlights in his track and discusses the importance of these theoretical papers—and how the concepts presented often become the technology of the not-too-distant future.  Jerome exp...

Jeff Henderson, AEC President, and Greg Wittbecker, Senior Analyst with CRU North America, discuss China's announcement to curtail production and the impact to aluminum extruders.  Greg also provides insight into the recent volatility in aluminum prices.

Craig and Jerome talk with Extrusion Equipment (EE) Track Chair Chip Edwards, who recently retired from Cardinal Aluminum. Chip reveals the interesting topics in the EE Track, how the information gathered at the EE Track sessions can help extrusion professionals improve their operations, the inner workings of being a Track Chair for ET, and why extrusion industry professionals need to attend ET '2...

ET '22 Chairman Craig Werner and ET Vice Chair Jerome Fourmann talk with Mark Butterfield of Magnode – A Shape Corp. Company and ET Extrusion/Die Practical (EP) Track Chair. Mark shares his insights on one of the most popular tracks at ET, highlighting some topic trends, technical papers that stand out, and what delegates can expect to take away from attending the sessions in this track.

After being postponed – twice! – the Twelfth International Aluminum Extrusion Technology Seminar & Exposition—the biggest and best technical event for the aluminum extrusion industry—is finally back on track. ET staff members talk with Craig Werner, ET Seminar Committee Chair, and Jerome Fourmann, ET Seminar Committee Vice Chair, about what delegates can expect in May 2022 in Orlando, Florida, and...

Get a sneak peak of the AEC Press Maintenance Workshop scheduled for October 18-20, 2021 in Atlanta, from instructor Al Kennedy of Kennedy EuroTech. This workshop covers everything related to extrusion press maintenance and troubleshooting, equipment, press retrofit and more. Al explains who should attend and why, and he delves into what will be covered.

In this episode of Shapemakers, Jeff Henderson, the President of the Aluminum Extruders Council, discusses the Aluminum Safety Summit and its benefits to Members EHS teams, with access to a comprehensive, Safety-focused program designed for aluminum industry EHS professionals. Jeff will discuss the Summit with Chip Dollins of Service Center Metals, immediate-past Safety Team Leader at AEC, and wit...

In this episode of The Shapemakers, Jeff Henderson, President of the Aluminum Extruders Council, will discuss how a National Apprenticeship Program can benefit AEC members and the industry.  Jeff will discuss this topic with Michael Todisco, President of Apprenticeship Connections.

The second podcast in this series is once again a discussion between long time industry players, Craig Werner of Werner Extrusion Solutions and Duncan Crowdis of Alexandria Industries, as they explore and describe the process that creates an aluminum extrusion by following the metal from a raw material to a finished aluminum extruded product.

In this episode of The Shapemakers, Jeff Henderson, the President of the Aluminum Extruders Council, will discuss how the AEC can use a Lobbying Firm based in Washington D.C. to advance our agenda in matters of trade, regulations, and promoting the use of aluminum extrusions.  Jeff will be joined by David Jory and Bob Emmett to discuss this important opportunity.

The first podcast in this series is a discussion between long time industry players Craig Werner of Werner Extrusion Solutions and Duncan Crowdis of Alexandria Industries. Hear about the benefits of using aluminum as a material in product design and the versatility and benefits of using aluminum extrusions as a solution to product design challenges.

Jeff Henderson, AEC President, Greg Wittbecker with CRU North America, discuss the current state of the aluminum market and the outlook for 2022.  This has been an unbelievable run for aluminum over these last few months.  Tune into this episode to get Greg's views on the key drivers in today's market and how the market will develop in 2022.

Jeff Henderson, AEC President, discusses the current state of the aluminum market and the outlook for 2022 with Rusal America's President and CEO.  Tune into this episode to get Rusal's views on the key drivers in today's market and how the aluminum market may develop in 2022 in this timely interview.

Andrew  Halonen  of Mayflower Consulting talks with AEC Industry Promotion consultant Lynn Brown about aluminum extrusion use in cross-car beams, or instrument panel structures. Andrew discusses  the key requirements for instrument panel structures ,  the various  materials  (including  steel )  that OEMs are using , how extrusions can be used in  hybrid material solutions, and what other types of...