About massivUMFORMUNG

massivUMFORMUNG

massivUMFORMUNG is the specialist journal of the German bulk metal forming industry, published by the Industrieverband Massivumformung e. V. (IMU) in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The magazine reports on the latest trends in Massivumformung — the industrial forming of solid metal workpieces by forging, extrusion, and related processes — and serves as the communication channel of an industry association that represents more than 120 companies. Its readership consists of managers, engineers, and specialists in forging companies, their suppliers, and their customers in the automotive, mechanical engineering, and energy sectors. In the German trade-press landscape, where the commercially published Umformtechnik MASSIV+LEICHTBAU covers forming technology journalistically, massivUMFORMUNG occupies the complementary position of the association journal: the voice of the organized forging industry itself, combining technical reporting with the association's market information, research, and policy work.

Overview

The journal presents itself as the Fachzeitschrift in which the newest trends in bulk metal forming are reported. Its editorial program is shaped by the association's fields of activity: product innovation, research projects, lightweight construction in massive forming (massiver Leichtbau), energy policy, market information, and benchmarking. Articles cover technological developments in warm, semi-warm, and cold forging, in extrusion processes, and in the complementary procedures, operating materials, and information technology of the forging shop — alongside analyses of the economic and regulatory environment in which the member companies operate.

The readership is defined by the association's membership: predominantly medium-sized forging companies in Germany, their managing directors, technical managers, and engineers, plus the industry's suppliers of presses, hammers, tools, lubricants, and automation, and the customers — above all the automotive industry, mechanical engineering, and increasingly the energy and wind-power sectors. The journal reaches this audience as part of the association's service package, which also includes market information, the Schmiede-Akademie (forge academy) seminars, scholarships for apprentices and students, and the association's social-media channels.

The association behind the journal, the Industrieverband Massivumformung e. V., is based at Goldene Pforte 1, 58093 Hagen — in the heart of the German forging region of South Westphalia. The IMU describes itself as the national counterpart to EUROFORGE, the European forging association based in Brussels, and it bundles and represents the interests of the bulk metal forming companies in Germany. More than 120 firms use the association as their service and information center, and over 100 of the estimated 250 German companies whose production programs include bulk-formed parts are organized in it.

History

The journal's history is the history of the organized German forging industry's communication. The Industrieverband Massivumformung emerged from the postwar cooperation of German forging companies, which banded together to represent their interests in technology, markets, and policy. The association established its seat in Hagen, the traditional center of the German drop-forging industry in the Ruhr and South Westphalia region, where forging hammers and presses have shaped the industrial landscape for more than a century.

The Fachzeitschrift massivUMFORMUNG developed as the association's editorial instrument: a medium in which the newest trends of the industry are reported to the members and the interested professional public. The journal's concept reflects the association's self-understanding — the members determine the content of the joint work, and the technical exchange of experience, together with cooperation with more than 45 university institutes, continuously drives the field of research and technology forward. Public relations and technology marketing are among the core tasks that the journal serves.

In recent years the journal has accompanied the industry's strategic themes: the massiver Leichtbau (massive lightweight construction) initiative, which positions forged components as the lightweight solution for automotive and energy applications; the industry's response to energy policy and emissions regulation, including the association's work on the Industrial Emissions Directive; and the digitalization and efficiency networks through which member companies benchmark their processes. The journal documents these programs and translates them into practice-oriented reporting for the forging shop.

Coverage and Content

The editorial coverage of massivUMFORMUNG follows the association's agenda. Technology reporting covers the forming processes themselves — forging with hammers and presses, warm, semi-warm, and cold bulk forming of metallic workpieces and semi-finished products, metallic additive manufacturing, and the complementary procedures, operating materials, processes, and information technology of the forging operation. Research reporting presents the results of joint projects with the more than 45 cooperating university institutes, keeping the members at the state of research and technology.

Market and policy coverage forms the second pillar: market information on the industry's customer sectors, analyses of economic developments, and reporting on the regulatory environment — from energy policy to emissions law — that directly affects the energy-intensive forging companies. The association's benchmarking activities, experience-exchange groups, and industry meetings are documented in the journal, as are the Schmiede-Akademie's seminars and the association's training and scholarship programs for young talent.

The journal also serves the association's public-relations and technology-marketing tasks: presenting the capabilities of the German forging industry to customers and the public, and supporting the industry's presence at trade fairs and events where the sector shows its technologies and innovations. The tone is that of an association journal — technically competent, member-oriented, and committed to the competitiveness of the organized companies.

Organization and Ownership

massivUMFORMUNG is published by the Industrieverband Massivumformung e. V. (IMU), Goldene Pforte 1, 58093 Hagen, Germany. The association's managing director, named as responsible for content in the association's publications, is Dr. Theodor L. Tutmann. The IMU is the national association of the German bulk metal forming industry and the German counterpart to the European association EUROFORGE in Brussels.

The association describes its central task as the organization of supra-company cooperation among its predominantly medium-sized member firms. It supports its members in increasing their competitiveness by providing important industry and market information, organizes the technical exchange of experience, and pursues public relations and technology marketing as core tasks. The journal is one instrument among several: the association also operates the Schmiede-Akademie for specialist seminars, scholarship programs for apprentices and students, and direct communication channels via social media.

Circulation figures for the journal are not publicly confirmed in freely available sources. The title's distribution is tied to the association's membership and the interested professional public in the forging industry's supplier and customer sectors. The association's publications are produced in cooperation with external editorial and design service providers, as documented in the imprints of the association's brochures.

Digital Presence

The journal's digital home is massivumformung.de, the website of the Industrieverband Massivumformung, where the association presents its services, market information, press releases, and the journal itself. The site functions as the information center of the organized forging industry: members and interested professionals find industry and market information, documentation of research projects, and announcements of seminars, trade fairs, and events.

Beyond the website, the association maintains social-media channels on Facebook and YouTube, which it describes as the direct line to young talent — a channel for the exchange of specialist information and for the industry's training and scholarship programs. The journal's content circulates within this digital ecosystem: technical articles and industry news from the print title are complemented by the association's online press information, factsheets on regulatory topics such as the Industrial Emissions Directive, and presentations from the association's efficiency networks. The digital presence thus extends the journal's role as the communication channel of the German forging industry into the association's full service portfolio.