Generale Prefabbricati Spa once again participated this year in the 16th annual conference of the IPHA association (IPHA – International Prestressed Hollowcore Association).
In fact, the association was founded in the first half of the 1970s with the name IECA (International Extruded Concrete Association) to collect the research, production and marketing experiences of hollow core slab manufacturers using the extrusion method, and then changed its statute and its corporate name to also accommodate hollow core manufacturers using the so-called slip-forming method.
Generale Prefabbricati has been a member of the Association since 1978 and, since then, has regularly participated in annual conferences and technical seminars regularly organised by the Association itself.
This year, the Conference was held in the Norwegian capital of Oslo from 7 to 10 May, more specifically in the premises of the historic Grand Hotel, well-known since the famous playwright Henrik Ibsen used to have lunch in the Gran Cafe with some of the most famous writers, artists, academics and diplomats of the time.
The theme of this year’s conference was: “Winning against the odds,” which expressly refers to this particular economic moment in which producers are operating and competing, with reference to the global crisis.
Marketing experts from leading European cement and steel manufacturers for reinforced concrete and reinforced concrete participated to provide their forecasts regarding the consumption of raw materials in our sector. Producers from various continents (including Australia, South Africa and the USA) arrived to tell about the marketing actions undertaken both as companies and as National associations to inform and guide the market.
The four days of the convention also included an interesting visit to one of the production centres of the Norwegian company CONTIGA, who participated in organising the event. Also included in the four days were art-led sightseeing tours in the city of Oslo and discovery of the fascinating world of cross-country skiing, a true national cult, whose museum contains finds dating back two thousand years.
And once again this year, the conference proved to be useful and profitable in confirming the current state of art in the worldwide production of hollow core slabs, and in ascertaining if and how the experiences of others can be included into the reality of the Italian market.