The 4th Symposium on "Metal Removal Fluids: Global challenges" has taken place in Barcelona, Spain 14-16 September 2011.

This key symposium for the Global Industrial Metalworking Fluid Industry is being held in Europe for the first time and has provided an opportunity for participants to gain a unique understanding of the current critical challenges that face the industry.

The first symposium in this sequence was held in the heart of the motor industry in the USA, in Dearborn , Michigan and was sponsored by the American Automobile Manufacturers Association in cooperation with a number of US based union, health and safety and industry organisations.

The emphasis of the symposium was to bring together key figures from the industry, from academia and from government based health and safety orientated organisations to discuss and debate the current knowledge related to worker exposure in the metalworking fluid industry. The symposium was very successful and relevant at that time and it was swiftly followed by the 2nd Symposium in 1997 with a similar format but concentrating on issues like total system management and hypersensitivity pneumonitis which had become key developing issues in the two year interval.

There were many changes across the industry, especially within the union organisations and associations of America in the period just after the turn of the millennium and it was not until 2008 that the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association (ILMA) in association with the Independent Union of the European Lubricant Industry (UEIL) recreated the Symposium in a slightly different format again back in Dearborn, Michigan. There was a still an emphasis on health, safety and environmental issues but additional sessions were included with respect to regulatory status, sustainability and future trends.

The positive feedback from the participants at this third symposium and the understanding that this was a unique conference globally with respect to its relevance to the metalworking fluid industry, led to UEIL deciding very rapidly following the event, to bring the next symposium to Europe.

The 4th Symposium again extended the envelope of the previous events and added sessions on product and system innovation to those of regulation and application in order to appeal to an even wider audience within the industry. For three days in September, academics, industry professionals, government regulators and industry advisors have had a unique opportunity to meet and debate the challenges that face the industry today.