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Stadco, UK's largest independent supplier of automotive body-in-white pressings, celebrated the opening of its fifth UK production site located in a former Japanese owned pressworks - refurbishing the factory buildings, sevices and two press lines in just three months.
Stadco celebrated the official opening of its fifth UK production site at Telford in July 2011 . This event is significant, not only because it illustrates a resurgence in demand from UK automobile producers, but also because of the remarkable speed in which Stadco management responded to the returning market following the precipitous fall at the beginning of 2009, when car manufactures across the western world interrupted production in response to the falling demand for vehicles.
Stadco took over a derelict works in Telford, in the west Midlands of UK on February 5 201 1 and made its first test pressing on April 1 1 - just nine weeks later. By May, the site was supplying pressings to customers. Ramp up of the number of pressings reached 200 000 completed by July with a target of 950 000 in total by the end of the year, about 50% of Telford's capacity with two lines in operation.
The 18 acre site was previously occupied by the Japanese tool company, Ogihara, which acquired it from Venture Pressings in 1993, the former joint venture company owned by GKN and Jaguar Motors established in 1 988 to supply pressings to Jaguar.
Ogihara operated five fully automated pressing lines on the site, adding a second building and Toolroom in 2001 . But when business stalled in 2009 it rapidly closed the site and stripped out three of the press lines for shipment to the Far East.
Ogihara was within weeks of removing the two remaining lines when Stadco made a successful bid for the site and its contents. Thus Stadco became the owner of two modern fully automated press lines: a 4.5m bed 2000t four stand line and a 3.5m bed 1600t five stand line, housed in two separate buildings as well as 24 000m^sup 2^ of covered space vacated by the three lines removed and, ready for future expansion with cellars and foundations in place. Also included on the site is a fully equipped toolroom for die production.
The...