One of the most powerful presses in the UK has entered production at Mettis Aerospace’s integrated forging facility in Redditch, enabling the company to manufacture larger and higher-volume products for the aerospace industry and other key sectors.

The 40-tonne DG40 Bêché counter-blow hammer press enables Mettis to produce precision forgings weighing to 250kg (depending on the material).

Its power and automation capabilities mean that the company will also be able to forge large components faster and more cost-effectively.

Mettis (www.mettis-aerospace.com) now has over 60 forging units, and its highly skilled staff are experts at working with a diverse range of materials, including aluminium, titanium, steel alloys and more.

The installation of the DG40 Bêché press was a multi-million-pound project.

It weighs the equivalent of over 200 cars, so Mettis had to invest heavily in foundations as well as supporting facilities.

Jeremy Cieslik, chief operating officer, said: “With this new power comes greater capability and capacity to open new platforms to exceed our future customer needs.

“Applying this — along with our agility, responsiveness and innovation — to new products and processes gives us a total production system game-changer.”