According to a report, Spain’s Alcorta Forging Group will open its first U.S. manufacturing operations and regional headquarters in Marysville, Ohio. The 100-year-old company, which develops and manufactures automotive components, will invest $15 million and create 50 new jobs. The 150,000-square-foot forging and manufacturing facility will be completed in three phases and include state-of-the-art machinery and equipment. Under the current uncertain circumstances, Alcorta will move forward with its pre-construction activities while remaining on hold for the construction launch.

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.

In an era where equipment is routinely rendered obsolete at an ever-increasing pace, forging equipment stands alone as machines built to work on a daily basis for decades – if not the better part of a century.

When forges need to expand production to meet increased demand for existing parts or to add new product lines, selecting from available options to bring new equipment online can be challenging.

Without the ability to forge steel and other metals over the past century and a half, industry would have lacked the parts needed to manufacture cars, build aircraft, drill for oil, mine for minerals or lay down rail tracks.

Surprise! Today your boss instructed you to attend Forge Fair 2019 this coming May in Cleveland, Ohio!

The forging industry will meet in Cleveland for the third consecutive time at Forge Fair 2019. The new Huntington Convention Center will host the biennial event May 21-23, 2019.

Lefere Forge of Jackson, Mich., will be closing on or about Dec. 1 after 89 years in business. The family-operated company is ending operations due to financial and labor issues. Lefere Forge’s website has been deactivated, but according to local reporting the company sent out an email on Nov. 1 to its customers stating that “…the last several years have been challenging financially, and a continuing labor shortage has not allowed us to operate the plant efficiently.” Approximately 60 employees will be displaced.

In June’s issue, we opened the topic of MES/ERP systems by discussing what they are and how they are used in today’s business climate. The majority of forge companies today continue to discuss the need to establish information integration that is coordinated and summarized among their various departments.