Are we starting to see the signs of an “extinction-level event” as future vehicle innovation accelerates?

To stay competitive, forgers must continuously integrate advanced manufacturing technologies into their production. Long gone are the days when forging was simply a means of shaping metal.

SECO/WARWICK will supply a multipurpose sealed quench-chamber furnace to Kuznia Sulkowicie SA, a Polish manufacturer of matrix forgings, construction connectors and manual tools. The furnace is designed for heat treatment (such as gas carbonitriding and pure hardening) in a controlled endothermic atmosphere. The fully automated operation of the furnace is its unique advantage. Personnel are only required to load and unload the work after treatment. The cycle and product transfer is completely automated.

Israel’s Bet Shemesh Engines Ltd. announced an agreement with Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp., to buy all the shares of Pratt &Whitney’s Carmel Forge for $58.5 million. Carmel Forge manufactures parts for aviation jet engines. As part of the deal, Carmel Forge has signed a long-term agreement, valued at $360 million over 10 years, for the production of forged metal-alloy components to be used in Pratt &Whitney’s new engine manufacturing projects.

Mettis Aerospace, Worcestershire, U.K., has been awarded a contract to supply steel alloy precision-forged components to Boeing’s first European factory in Sheffield, U.K. Boeing’s new facility will produce 7,000 actuation system components each month for the 737 and 777 passenger jets, which will be shipped for assembly in Boeing’s Portland, Ore., plant.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers struck Wyman-Gordon (W-G) in Houston, Texas, at the expiration of the then-current collective bargaining agreement in August.

Bharat Forge Ltd. acquired Walker Forge Tennessee (WFT) through its U.S. subsidiary, Bharat Forge America, for $14 million.

This article examines the weight-saving potential in using bimetallic or hollow components on heavy-duty vehicles and the obstacles to their production.