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This year's general meeting of the Association for the Surface Finishing of Aluminum (VOA) took place in Bad Neuenahr. On the first day, the VOA offered a practically relevant program at the meeting of the Technical Circle. The agenda included the Energy Efficiency Act and its practical application, presented by TRIBICON GmbH, as well as theCO2 footprint using the practical example of NABU-Oberflächenchemie GmbH.
Work on "BREF STM" is progressing
The members also discussed the impact of EU policy on their companies. Sandra Leuthold from the Federal Environment Agency and Marc-Steffen Hinderer from Hydro Extrusion Deutschland GmbH reported on the European and national work on "BREF STM". The participants discussed current processes, particularly with regard to the international quality marks QUALANOD, QUALICOAT and QUALISTRIP, as well as sustainability and the further technical development of surface finishing, with speakers from the companies of the supporting members.
Mayor thanks for support
In the morning of the next day, Chairman of the Board Friedhelm U. Scholten welcomed the participants to the internal part of the general meeting. In the public part in the afternoon, Guido Orthen, Mayor of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler since 2010, welcomed the participants. He expressed his delight at the support of the VOA and its members in driving the economy in the region forward. Andrea Stenz from the Koblenz Chamber of Industry and Commerce reported on the natural disaster in the Ahrthal and the economic development four years after the flood.
A world in upheaval
With Prof. Dr. Hubertus Bardt from the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW), the VOA gained an economic expert who shed light on industrial value chains in Germany. "A world in upheaval - and Germany right in the middle of it", he stated, hitting the nerve of the times with his presentation - whether forecasts for Germany in 2025, the question of the turnaround in German industry, US tariffs, the development and prosperity gap in Germany or the political uncertainty in the country. This clearly showed that the general economic situation and the IW's assessment are in line with the data regularly collected by the VOA from its member companies, which the association records at least twice a year in the official situation report.