A £250,000 investment by Worcester Presses is helping a leading Black Country metal pressing specialist take advantage of new domestic and reflow opportunities.
Cotmor Tool & Presswork, which employs 16 people at its Brierley Hill factory, saw sales soar to £2m after the lockdown was lifted and is now eyeing an additional £1m in orders over the next 12 months.
The company has formed strategic partnerships with nearby press suppliers to capitalize on this growth, which has led to the installation of two 110-ton and one 160-ton Chin Fong machines.
Two state-of-the-art Tomac decoilers have been introduced, in addition to Titan monitoring technology designed to increase tool and press life and die pads to help accommodate multi-tools.
Cotmor (Group L): (left) Russell Hartill (Worcester Press), Louise Forrest, David Cotterill (both Cotmor) and Emily Jackson (Worcester Press)
“The rebound in volumes has been stronger than any of us expected and it has given us an incentive to look for new equipment that will get us faster and allow us to take on new jobs of up to £1m,” said David in charge of operations. Cotterill explained Cotmor with his wife Wendy and daughters Louise and Natalie.
“80% of our work is overseas, and we supply deep-drawn, precision and progressive prints to customers in Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, Turkey and South Korea. Many of these components are technically difficult to produce, and since the lockdown we have seen More and more companies are looking to relocate for security of supply.”
He continued: “We knew we needed more capacity and started discussing with Worcester Presses our future requirements and the flexibility of the machine to be able to produce components for the agriculture, commercial vehicle, foundry and food and beverage industries.
“After much discussion, we agreed that the sturdiness and durability of Chin Fong, as well as the installation process and training, were excellent. The challenge now is to win the job that fills them.”
Worcester Presses has experienced a similar upturn in fortunes, seeing a 30% increase in demand for its range of hydraulic and mechanical presses and auxiliary equipment over the past six months.
The Dudley-based company has added two people, working with Cotmor for about nine months to provide a tailor-made ‘production’ solution, culminating in the installation of three presses.
It is now exploring the possibility of procuring a Chin Fong weighing up to 400 tonnes to give press and toolmaking specialists access to one of its largest machines to date.
Russell Hartill, Managing Director of Worcester Presses, continued: “The Cotmor partnership is an excellent example of two Black Country businesses working together to deliver world-class manufacturing.
“The expertise of David and his team is second to none, and when this is combined with our technical knowledge and the performance of our presses, you have all the ingredients you need to stay competitive and win jobs overseas.”
Louise Forrest, Cotmor Financial Director concluded: “We are very impressed with the performance of Chin Fong, these presses are absolutely the best on the market in terms of performance, durability and production flexibility.”
Post time: May-28-2022