Associations in the Metalworking Industry Step Up Their Engagement with Policymakers

Werner Schmid is a long-standing member of the Industrieverband Blechumformung e. V. (IBU), a national association that represents companies in the sheet metal forming industry and counts approximately 240 companies among its members. The IBU, in turn, is a member of the Economic Association for Steel and Metal Processing (WSM), which, in addition to sheet metal forming, also represents several other industries, such as spring manufacturing, bulk forming, and cold rolling mills. In total, the WSM comprises 13 industry associations from the steel and metal processing sectors.

Since 2018, our managing director, Joachim Hauß, has been an elected member of the IBU’s executive board, where he is particularly committed to fostering dialogue between industry and politics. In this context, Werner Schmid, in collaboration with the IBU, has repeatedly reached out to politicians from various parties in recent years to raise their awareness of the challenges facing small and medium-sized industrial enterprises. In 2023, the WSM launched its campaign “We. Shape. Progress.” The campaign’s goal is to unite the voices of the 13 trade associations under one umbrella, thereby giving the industry greater influence with policymakers. The campaign calls on policymakers to restore Germany’s business environment to a competitive level by international standards. Key issues include energy costs, reducing bureaucracy, and setting realistic environmental protection goals, as well as the shortage of skilled workers, infrastructure weaknesses, and the proportionality of taxes and fees.

For more information on the “We. Shape. Progress.” campaign, visit https://wir-formen-fortschritt.de or follow the initiative’s channel on social media platforms such as LinkedIn.