Major contract win for Sheffield Forgemasters

Arkansas-based press manufacturer Ajax-Ceco awarded Forgemasters the contract for the press frame because of the venerable UK firm’s quality of production and its input into the development and design of the frame, Forgemasters said. Comprising 550 tonnes of steel, the frame will be almost 13m long, 3.5m wide and 3.2m deep.

““Winning the Ajax casting contract against strong overseas competition and harsh market conditions is purely down to our quality and technical manufacturing skills,’ commented Forgemasters sales manager Michael Holloway.“We put a considerable body of work into modeling the casting ahead of a visit from the customer and this threw up some design modifications which were beneficial. This, combined with our history of delivering press frames to exacting specifications, including prior castings manufacture work with Ajax, was crucial to securing the work.”

The company will cast the frame from liquid steel; it will take several weeks to cool before it can be lifted from the casting pit, when it will then undergo heast treatment and machining, Holloway said. The finished article will be delivered to the Southwest Steel Processing forging plant in Newport, Arkansas, where it will form part of a plant expansion, by early 2017.