Traditional ways of work simply aren't sustainable and effective because the still-ongoing technological revolution is reshaping all products and services that have been made before, creating new products/services, concepts and work titles.

Airbus, as part of its plan to produce 63 A320 family aircraft per month in 2021, will expand its industrial footprint in the U.S. by increasing the production rate of A320 family aircraft at its Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, Ala., to seven per month by the beginning of next year. This increase will result in 275 jobs added at the facility over the next year. The company will also invest another $40 million through construction of an additional support hangar on the site, bringing its total investment to more than $1 billion in the Gulf Coast city.

Blue Point Capital Partners acquired Mattco Forge Inc., a manufacturer of forged-metal products primarily for the aerospace and defense sectors. Paramount, Calif.-based Mattco offers a wide range of products and customized product configurations in various metal alloys that are critical to high-performance parts. According to Blue Point, Mattco has strategically positioned itself as a key supplier of forged-metal products in the aerospace and defense industries. Blue Point hopes to expand the company's production capabilities, improve its supply-chain management and enhance its business infrastructure.

Arlington Capital Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based private-equity firm, acquired Firth Rixson Forgings Ltd. from Arconic. Going forward, the business will operate as part of Forged Solutions Group, which was formed in November 2019 by Arlington Capital as its aerospace forging platform. Located in Sheffield, United Kingdom, Firth Rixson provides complex closed-die forgings and forged discs and proprietary forward-and-backward extrusion-produced shafts and cylinders primarily for OEM and Tier 1 aerospace and defense engine customers.

China’s AVIC Shaanxi Hongyuan Aviation Forging Co. Ltd. put what it says is the world's largest clutch-operated screw press into operation at its site in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. The SPKA-type clutch-operated screw press, which was supplied by SMS group, has a screw diameter of 1,330 millimeters (52 inches), a blow force of 365 MN, a gross power of 27,000 kJ and a weight of 2,900 tons. It offers flexibility when it comes to optimizing the forging process and requires far less stroke to achieve the preset ram speed than a conventional slipping-wheel screw press. This type of press is particularly suited for high-energy forging typically used for turbine blades or structural aircraft components.

Schuler received an order for a 30,000-ton closed-die forging press from Otto Fuchs, a manufacturer of high-quality forged pieces, extruded products and rolled rings for the aerospace, automotive and construction industries. The press will be used to manufacture aircraft landing gear, engine discs and structural parts made of aluminum, magnesium, titanium and nickel alloys. It will be supplied with press mechanics, adaptation of water hydraulics, transport, full assembly and CE certification. Start-up is scheduled for January 2021.

At the FIERF 32^nd Technical Conference held last September in Long Beach, Calif., Weber Metals’ Justin Owen made a presentation about the process by which OTTO FUCHS (OF)/Weber Metals made the decision to invest $180 million in what they say is North America’s largest forging press. This became the largest single investment decision in company history.

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.

Arconic introduced an advanced titanium alloy called ARCONIC-THOR that is designed for higher-temperature applications in next-generation aero engines and adjacent structures. The new patented alloy is nearly 50% lighter than incumbent nickel-based superalloys, driving cost savings and fuel efficiency for customers and helping Arconic capture growing demand for advanced aero engine and airframe materials. ARCONIC-THOR can be produced as sheet, plate, foil, billet, rolled rings, forgings and extrusions. It is formable (cold, hot, superplastic), heat treatable, forgeable and weldable.