This morning, November 21, the 29,000-ton forging press at Precision Castparts Corporation's Wyman-Gordon (Wyman) facility in Houston failed. This forge is used primarily to manufacture aircraft engine components. The company has a risk mitigation strategy in place in the event of such a failure.
Wyman estimates that roughly 70 percent of the product handled on the 29,000-ton press can be moved with little interruption to another press in the Houston facility. The balance can be manufactured in other Wyman facilities within a reasonable period of time. This effort will be coordinated with Wyman's customers. At this point, Wyman has begun an analysis of the extent of required repairs and expects to gain a better understanding of the situation within a week.
"We have notified our customers about this unfortunate failure and will work closely with them to mitigate production interruptions," said Mark Donegan, chairman and chief executive officer of Precision Castparts Corporation. "The primary output of the 29,000-ton press is aircraft engine components; the other Houston product lines are not affected."
Precision Castparts is a worldwide, diversified manufacturer of complex metal components and products. It serves the aerospace, power generation, automotive and general industrial and other markets. PCC is the market leader in manufacturing large, complex structural investment castings, airfoil castings, and forged components used in jet aircraft engines and industrial gas turbines. The company is also a leading producer of highly engineered, critical fasteners for aerospace, automotive, and other markets and supplies metal alloys and other materials to the casting and forging industry.