£12m investment helps win quality award

One of the UK’s leading metals service centres is targeting further growth after it secured one of the automotive sector’s most demanding quality accreditations. William King Ltd, which specialises in high-tensile steel, aluminium, light gauge processing, electrical steels and niche metal coatings, received the Jaguar Land Rover JLRQ Award in front of 150 staff at its Atlas Centre facility in West Bromwich.

Andrew McClure, global supplier technical assistance director at JLR, made the presentation in recognition of the company’s outstanding performance over the past year where it has achieved world-class ‘right first time’ and ‘on-time in-full’ delivery scores. It marks the culmination of a £12m investment drive by the firm over the past five years that has seen William King introduce a new press blanking line, slitting facility and stacker, helping it take on new work and create and safeguard more than 50 jobs.

“We’ve been working towards the JLRQ standard for some time, overcoming the additional challenges of Covid-19 to demonstrate consistent quality, cost and on-time delivery,” explains Rachel Graville, who is the fourth generation managing director of family-owned William King.

She adds: “Quality has always been central to the way we operate, so a lot of the building blocks we needed for the award were already there, we just had to focus a little more on standardising processes, implementing a clearer continuous improvement strategy and bolstering training for all staff. Not only have we delivered world-class performance, we have done so against the positive backdrop of a rising order book with JLR, whom we now supply both in the UK and Slovakia.”
For further information www.williamking.co.uk

Walter GB expands team

Unprecedented business growth at Walter GB has led the cutting tool manufacturer to restructure its external teams to support a surge in post-pandemic sales. The restructure at the Bromsgrove company has seen three new field sales engineers employed to strengthen the existing sales structure and deliver enhanced customer service and support as the company continues its growth trajectory. The three new recruits, John Rutherford, Ian Hill and John Hawkins, will serve to drive more sales and further enhance customer support initiatives.
For further information www.walter-tools.com

Major turbine order placed

Red Rock Power has placed a 67 MW order with Vestas for its Benbrack wind farm, following an initial exclusivity agreement last month. The order includes the supply, installation and commissioning of 13 V136-4.5 MW turbines and two V117-4.2 MW turbines in 4.3 MW operating mode. Deliveries and installation of the turbines will begin in early 2024, with commissioning complete that summer. Red Rock’s onshore Benbrack wind farm, located in Dumfries and Galloway, has consent for up to 18 turbines and a total generation capacity of 72 MW, allowing for the potential to increase the number of turbines.
For further information redrockpower.co.uk

Press investment helps Cotmor expand

A £250,000 investment drive with Worcester Presses is helping a leading Black Country metal pressing specialist take advantage of new domestic and reshoring opportunities.
Cotmor Tool & Presswork, which employs 16 people at its Brierley Hill factory, has seen sales soar to £2m following the easing of lockdown and is now setting its sights on an additional £1m of orders over the next 12 months.

The company has formed a strategic partnership with Worcester Presses to capitalise on this growth, resulting in the installation of one 160 tonne and two 110 tonne Chin Fong machines, two Tomac decoilers, Titan monitoring technology to improve tool and press life, and a die cushion to help accommodate multi-functional tools.

“Volumes have bounced back stronger than any of us expected and this has given us the impetus to look at new equipment that will make us faster and provide capacity to take on up to £1m of new work,” explains David Cotterill, who runs Cotmor with his wife Wendy and daughters Louise and Natalie. “80% of our work is overseas and we ship deep-drawn, precision and progression presswork to clients in Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, Turkey and South Korea.”

He continues: “We knew we needed more capacity so we started talking to Worcester Presses about our future requirements and the flexibility of the machines to produce components for the agriculture, commercial vehicle, foundry and food and drink sectors. After much discussion, we agreed on the robustness and durability of the Chin Fongs and the installation process and training were superb. Now the challenge is to win the work to fill them.”
For further information www.worcesterpresses.co.uk

Farina forging line for boules balls

Boules or Pétanque is a popular sport across the whole of France. Since 1955, Obut has been producing the steel balls weighing around 700 g and enjoying a veritable cult in the country. Starting next summer, the company will produce the balls at its headquarters in Saint-Bonnet-Le-Château near Lyon on a 1300-tonne forging press from Farina.

“Schuler and Farina have been great in helping us find the equipment to meet our needs,” says Romain Souvignet, president of La Boule Obut, whose grandfather joined the company in 1958. “The new forging press impressed us not only with its high productivity, but also with the low energy requirements and high connectivity that our manufacturing needs.”

The starting material for the boule balls, which have a diameter of just over 70 mm, are steel rods sawn into sections, which a press first forms into discs and then into half shells. Obut welds the shells together, before machining and polishing to a mirror finish. On the company’s website, visitors can not only choose between different models made of stainless or carbon steel, but also mark them individually. Once the customer has clicked on ‘order’, the job goes straight into production.

The 1300-tonne Farina forging press replaces two lines with a press force of 600 and 800 tonnes respectively, which are becoming obsolete. The future line, which also includes a transfer and a furnace, will form a half shell every two seconds. This rapid throughput is necessary, because every month 200,000 balls leave the factory.
For further information www.schulergroup.com