Black Country manufacturers partner to create reshoring opportunities

Following a £250,000 investment from Worcester Presses, a Brierley Hill metal pressing specialist is taking advantage of reshoring opportunities.

Cotmor Toll & Presswork has had sales reach £2m since the easing of lockdown and now aims to have £1m in order over the next twelve months.

A partnership has been formed with Worcester Presses which has resulted in the installation of two 110 tonnes and one 160 tonnes Chin Fond machines.

David Cotterill runs Cotmor with his wife Wendy and daughters Louise and Natalie.

He said: “80% of our work is overseas and we ship deep-drawn precision and progression presswork to clients in Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, Turkey and South Korea. A lot of these components are technically difficult to produce and, since lockdown, we are seeing an increasing number of enquiries from firms looking to reshore to achieve security of supply.

“We knew we needed more capacity so started talking to Worcester Presses about our future requirements and the flexibility of the machines to be able to produce components destined for agriculture, commercial vehicle, foundry and the food and drink sector.

“After much discussion, we agreed on the robustness and durability of the Chin Fongs and the installation process and training were superb. Now the challenge is to win the work to fill them.”

Two state-of-the-art Tomac decoilers have also been introduced, in addition to Titan monitoring technology designed to improve tool and press life and a die cushion to help accommodate multi-functional tools.

Worcester Presses says it has also experienced a rise in demand of 30% for its range of hydraulic and mechanical presses and ancillary equipment over the last six months.

The Dudley-based company has installed three presses following its partnership with Cotmor and it has taken on two more employees.

It is now looking at sourcing a 400 tonne Chin Fong, which would be the press and toolmaking specialists biggest machine to date.

Russell Hartill, managing director at Worcester Presses said: “The Cotmor partnership is a fantastic example of two Black Country businesses working together to deliver world-class manufacturing.

“David and his team’s expertise 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 be competitive and win work from overseas.”

Close