Coordinator: Prof. Robertt Angelo Fontes Valente 

Co-Organisers: Prof. Pierpaolo Carlone, Prof. Sandrine Thuillier, Prof. Joost Duflou 

Description: Nowadays, manufacturing processes are seeing a strong push towards the constant increase of their competitiveness and efficiency, together with more and more customization possibilities. Such improvements must also consider a higher level of sustainability and life cycle assessment, following the essence of a truly circular economy paradigm. Chain process involving forming and assembly technologies, as well as reliability assessment and control of the parts, must be considered for true and efficient optimization purposes. A unified or integrated analysis of the several aspects of manufacturing technologies can lead to a better understanding of the complex phenomena in forming, increasing its overall efficiency. Moreover, proper manufacturing process planning, as well as scrap minimization through near net shape manufacturing strategies, can lead to substantial energy and resource savings. Taking these broad aspects into consideration, the main goal of this Mini-Symposium is to provide a forum for discussion and presentation of research works, from both academia and industry stakeholders, focusing on integrated numerical and experimental methodologies that can provide viable paths to the sustainable forming processes and products of the future.