The cross-wedge rolling (CWR) technique was conceived at the end of the 19th century and was believed to be ahead of its time.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced that Bharat Forge America Inc. will build an aluminum forging plant to manufacture automobile components in Lee County, N.C. The $127.3 million investment will create 304 jobs. The new facility will be part of a larger manufacturing center that will create as many as 460 jobs. According to Bharat Forge, the investment will help it create a strong global manufacturing footprint as part of its aluminum strategy.

Platte River Equity announced the sale of its portfolio company PRV Metals LLC to Tinicum L.P., a New York-based private investment firm. Through its two operating subsidiaries, Sierra Alloys (Irwindale, Calif.) and TSI Titanium (Derry, Pa.), PRV Metals manufactures and supplies forged and rolled titanium, stainless steel products and other specialty alloys to the commercial aerospace, defense, medical, energy and industrial sectors. The company specializes in flat and round bar and plate products, and it performs in-house heat treating, hot rolling, forging, conditioning and machining.

The Ellwood Closed Die Group (ECDG) completed construction of its climate-controlled close-tolerance finish machining complex at its Ellwood Texas Forge Navasota (ETFN) facility. The new operation concludes a year-long initiative to integrate operations of the former Ellwood Texas Forge and Machine with ETFN to improve customer solutions and to better leverage engineering and management resources. Capabilities include turning, milling, drilling, boring and single-point threading operations, with up to 14,000 square feet serviced by several overhead bridge cranes.

HPG500 is a premium boundary lubricant that prevents metal-to-metal contact under high load and slow speed conditions for either high-end manual chucks or power chucks.

Quaker Chemical Corp. and Houghton International combined to create Quaker Houghton, a global provider of industrial process fluids to the primary metals and metalworking markets. Along with the new name, the company revealed a new logo and brand representing the combined companies. Quaker Chemical’s combined breadth of product and service offerings can be found in end markets such as aerospace, aluminum, automotive, machinery, industrial parts manufacturing, mining and steel.

Forging technology has undergone continuous development during the past few years.

The 23rd International Forging Congress (IFC), to be held in Chicago Sept. 19-21, 2020, issued its call for presentations. The event, which will immediately follow the IMTS show, will showcase the best in technical and business-oriented presentations for the worldwide forging community. The IFC Planning Committee is calling for presentations now through Aug. 31, 2019.

Indiana Wheel Corp. (IWC), a manufacturing company specializing in the production and distribution of steel wheels, plans to establish operations in Plymouth, Ind., and create up to 117 new jobs over the next few years. The company, which is a joint venture led by China’s Jingu Company Ltd., will invest approximately $23 million to purchase, renovate and equip a 300,000-square-foot production facility in Plymouth. The plant will include more than $14.5 million of specially designed equipment to support IWC’s manufacturing operations for the trailer and RV industries. Upgrades will begin this summer with production expected to start later this year.

Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) agreed to sell two non-core forging facilities to Chicago-based Wynnchurch Capital LLC for $37 million. The transaction will close during the second quarter of 2019. The facilities, located in Portland, Ind., and Lebanon, Ky., are part of ATI’s High Performance Materials & Components (HPMC) segment. They use primarily traditional forging methods to produce carbon-steel forged products for use in the oil and gas, transportation, construction and mining industries. Their capabilities include comprehensive forging processes complemented by in-house design and engineering, product machining and heat-treating services.