Wepuko Pahnke USA has held many different names over many years of operation, but one thing has remained constant: unwavering dedication to providing the forging industry with reliable oil and water hydraulic press systems.

Siderforgerossi Group S.p.A., a global manufacturer of forged products and a portfolio company of KPS Capital Partners, completed the acquisition of Grupo Euskal Forging S.L. and its subsidiaries. Euskal Forging is a manufacturer of forgings and seamless rolled rings, including rings greater than 8 meters in diameter, serving the wind power and mining industries. Headquartered in Irura, Spain, the company operates three manufacturing facilities and has approximately 170 employees. Veneto, Italy-headquartered Siderforgerossi is a vertically integrated manufacturer of rolled and forged products with capabilities across the manufacturing spectrum, including open-die and closed-die forging. 

Automotive supplier Ningbo Xusheng Auto Technology Co. Ltd. of China issued the Final Acceptance Certificate to SMS group for a fully automatic closed-die forging line. Installed at the company’s Ningbo location in the province of Zhejiang, the forging line consists of an eccentric forging press and, as a pre-forming unit, an automatic forging roll. The press operates with a maximum press force of 25 MN. Ningbo Xusheng is using the line to produce aluminum chassis components, especially for electric vehicles. With support of specific simulation software, SMS group cooperated with Ningbo Xusheng to jointly develop the technology and the dies for the aluminum forging process. 

France’s Transvalor, a manufacturing process-modeling software developer, joined the University of Strathclyde’s (Scotland) Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) as a tier-one partner. The first partner to join the AFRC in support of its soon-to-be-opened FutureForge facility, Transvalor will provide process simulation expertise and deep insight into material behavior resulting from manufacturing processes. The FutureForge facility will help manufacturing companies of all sizes become more competitive by exploring less energy-intensive methods of forging. It will also use digital technologies to accelerate the development of forged products.

For millennia, a sword was a warrior’s weapon of choice. Forged by a blacksmith heating metal or a combination of metals and working it into shape, the best swords for winning battles were not the sharpest or the longest, they were the strongest, most hard-wearing ones.

Independent Forgings and Alloys Ltd. (IFA) acquired Doncasters Precision Forge from the Doncasters Group and rebranded it as IFA Precision Forge. IFA manufactures high-integrity, open-die forged components for OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers within the aerospace, nuclear, power-generation and marine industries. The deal increased IFA’s site size threefold to 680,000 square feet and expanded its capabilities.

The Ellwood Closed Die Group (ECDG) is launching a new product line for Seakeeper. The line includes finish-machined flywheels that are assembled into gyro stabilizers, which, according to Seakeeper, cut down “95% of all boat roll, the rocking motion that causes sea sickness, anxiety and fatigue.” Ellwood Texas Forge Navasota (ETFN) will use the entire Ellwood Group supply chain to manufacture the flywheels from start to finish.

SMS group received an order from Zhejiang Wanliyang Transmission Co. Ltd., a gear manufacturer from Hangzhou, China, for a fully automatic, closed-die forging press.

Ellwood Texas Forge Navasota (ETFN) received Nadcap accreditation for Heat Treatment and Aerospace Quality System (AC7004) in January 2016.

Ellwood Closed Die Group completed a new manufacturing complex at its Navasota facility.