Educational Courses

Meeting the Challenges to the Materials Industries Posed by Materials Supply, Energy, Environmental Constraints, Global Competition, and New Technologies

Overview:

The worldwide materials industries- the metals, ceramics, glass, cement, polymer, and composites industries- face unprecedented challenges which must be met. These include tightening raw material and energy supplies, with the resulting cost increases. Environmental constraints, not the least of which is the topic of global climate change, offer serious challenges by themselves and compound all of the other challenges. All of these industries face growing global competition and the impact of new technologies. All of these are challenges and thus threats, but they also offer substantial opportunities for growth and profits.

This course is designed to delve into these challenges and opportunities in enough depth to allow these industries to better focus on them, develop strategies to meet and benefit from them, and to see the dynamic interactions they represent. There are no magic answers, and the situation is and will remain quite fluid. The presentation will be dynamic, somewhat controversial, and will encourage class discussion, input, and different opinions and viewpoints.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:

• List the variety of challenges facing the metals, ceramics, glass, cement, polymers, and composites industries.
• Discuss the tightening raw material and energy challenges, the impact of environmental concerns and issues, global competition in these industries, and how new technologies will affect them.
• Assess the dynamic interactions presented by these factors.
• Formulate strategies for meeting and even benefiting from these challenges.

Who Should Attend:

• Corporate and production managers in the materials industries
• Suppliers of raw materials and energy, and those related to these portions of the industry.
• Government planners and experts
• End users of man-made materials

Course Outline:

1. Scope and Nature of the Challenges
2. The Challenges of Raw Material Supply
3. The Challenges of Energy and Fossil Fuel Supply
4. The Challenges of Environmental Concerns
5. The Challenges of Global Competition and New Technologies
6. Strategies for Meeting the Challenges

Dr. Carl Frahme
Dr. Carl Frahme is President of Frahme Consulting Services, Inc. and has over forty years varied experience in the ceramic and materials industries. This has included management of R&D, marketing and technology, manufacturing, construction services, and general operations of small corporations. He is the author or co-author of the eleven online ceramic courses offered by ASM International. He has taught ceramic courses at UCLA and numerous short courses in ceramic and refractory technology. He is a Fellow of The American Ceramic Society and a member of the National Institute of Ceramic Engineers. He received his BS in Metallurgical Engineering from Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve University) and his Ph.D. in Ceramic Science and Engineering from Rutgers- The State University.