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135-592: GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch , England. It was a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds . It can trace its origins back to 1759 and the birth of the Industrial Revolution . In 2018 GKN plc was acquired by Melrose Industries plc in a hostile takeover. Melrose divested GKN Automotive and GKN Powder Metallurgy in 2023 and listed them as Dowlais Group on

270-463: A reduction mill or mill , has a common construction independent of the specific type of rolling being performed: Slabs are the feed material for hot strip mills or plate mills and blooms are rolled to billets in a billet mill or large sections in a structural mill. The output from a strip mill is coiled and, subsequently, used as the feed for a cold rolling mill or used directly by fabricators. Billets, for re-rolling, are subsequently rolled in either

405-554: A steam engine directly driving a mill is attributed to John Wilkinson 's Bradley Works where, in 1786, a Boulton and Watt engine was coupled to a slitting and rolling mill. The use of steam engines considerably enhanced the production capabilities of the mills, until this form of power was displaced by electric motors soon after 1900. Modern rolling practice can be attributed to the pioneering efforts of Henry Cort of Funtley Iron Mills, near Fareham in Hampshire , England. In 1783,

540-766: A basis in a national ethos , being ultimate without a specific nationhood, and that this lack of an ethos appears in their ways of operating as they enter into contracts with countries that have low human rights or environmental standards . In the world economy facilitated by multinational corporations, capital will increasingly be able to play workers, communities, and nations off against one another as they demand tax, regulation and wage concessions while threatening to move. In other words, increased mobility of multinational corporations benefits capital while workers and communities lose. Some negative outcomes generated by multinational corporations include increased inequality , unemployment , and wage stagnation . Raymond Vernon presents

675-498: A corporation invests in a country in which it is not domiciled, it is called foreign direct investment (FDI). Countries may place restrictions on direct investment; for example, China has historically required partnerships with local firms or special approval for certain types of investments by foreigners, although some of these restrictions were eased in 2019. Similarly, the United States Committee on Foreign Investment in

810-403: A downline in sintered products, reinforcement steels, wire fasteners and garage equipment. In 1973, GKN Steel exchanged the remaining assets at Dowlais along with £30 million in cash to the nationalised British Steel Corporation , in return for the previously nationalised Brymbo Steelworks . After acquiring steel stockholding competitor Miles Druce and Co, by 1974, the company was in possession of

945-451: A finite element model (FE) for predicting the final shape of a rolled bar in round-flat pass. One of the major concerns when designing rolling mills is to reduce the number of passes. A possible solution to such requirements is the slit pass , also called split pass , which divides an incoming bar in two or more subparts, thus virtually increasing the cross section reduction ratio per pass as reported by Lambiase. Another solution for reducing

1080-429: A free market system where there is little government interference. As a result, international wealth is maximized with free exchange of goods and services. To many economic liberals, multinational corporations are the vanguard of the liberal order. They are the embodiment par excellence of the liberal ideal of an interdependent world economy. They have taken the integration of national economies beyond trade and money to

1215-534: A full integrated steel production and manufacturing business. By the late 1980s, in the face of extensive competition from Japanese firms in both the axle and constant velocity joint business, GKN Steel decided to start selling off its steel and fasteners businesses. By 1991, the firm had disposed of all of the assets within these two business lines. GKN Steel's withdrawal coincidence with the wider closure of multiple steelworks and heavy industries across Britain, which caused considerable social disruption in some areas at

1350-582: A hostile takeover. Melrose's offer received shareholder support and was accepted. Following a formal review of the purchase, including of various objections put forward by GKN workers and trade unions , the UK Government allowed the transaction to proceed in April 2018; Melrose agreed to comply with several national security measures. Since the takeover by Melrose plc, the GKN legacy group of businesses were decentralised in

1485-417: A lot of residual stresses, which usually occurs in shapes that have a non-uniform cross-section, such as I-beams . While the finished product is of good quality, the surface is covered in mill scale , which is an oxide that forms at high temperatures. It is usually removed via pickling or the smooth clean surface (SCS) process, which reveals a smooth surface. Dimensional tolerances are usually 2 to 5% of

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1620-416: A merchant, bar or rod mill. Merchant or bar mills produce a variety of shaped products such as angles, channels, beams, rounds (long or coiled) and hexagons. Mills are designed in different types of configurations, with the most basic being a two-high non-reversing , which means there are two rolls that only turn in one direction. The two-high reversing mill has rolls that can rotate in both directions, but

1755-503: A mill at Pontypool to roll "Pontypool plates" – blackplate . Later this began to be rerolled and tinned to make tinplate . The earlier production of plate iron in Europe had been in forges, not rolling mills. The slitting mill was adapted to producing hoops (for barrels) and iron with a half-round or other sections by means that were the subject of two patents of c. 1679. Some of the earliest literature on rolling mills can be traced back to

1890-487: A million troops to help, and by February 1991, Iraqi forces were expelled from Kuwait. Due to the oil boycott from Kuwait and Iran, oil prices rose and quickly recovered. Saudi Arabia once again led OPEC, and thanks to assistance in defending Kuwait, new relations emerged between the USA and OPEC. Operation "Desert Storm" brought mutual dependence among the main oil producers. OPEC continued to influence global oil prices but recognized

2025-472: A move toward maximizing profitable sales in favour of focusing on pure growth of sales numbers. By the end of 2019, GKN had been restructured into three core divisions: GKN Aerospace, GKN Automotive and GKN Powder Metallurgy. On 9 July 2021, 422 workers of GKN's factory in Florence , Italy were notified that the factory was to be closed the next Monday. The same day, the unions organized a demonstration in front of

2160-443: A parametric Finite element model and to optimize and automatically design rolling mills. Cold rolling occurs with the metal below its recrystallization temperature (usually at room temperature), which increases the strength via strain hardening up to 20%. It also improves the surface finish and holds tighter tolerances . Commonly cold-rolled products include sheets, strips, bars, and rods; these products are usually smaller than

2295-468: A patent number was issued to Henry Cort for his use of grooved rolls for rolling iron bars. With this new design, mills were able to produce 15 times more output per day than with a hammer. Although Cort was not the first to use grooved rolls, he was the first to combine the use of many of the best features of various ironmaking and shaping processes known at the time. Thus modern writers have called him "father of modern rolling". The first rail rolling mill

2430-411: A single pass is limited by the friction between the rolls; if the change in thickness is too great the rolls just slip over the material and do not draw it in. The final product is either sheet or plate, with the former being less than 6 mm (0.24 in) thick and the latter greater than; however, heavy plates tend to be formed using a press , which is termed forging , rather than rolling. Often

2565-454: A small diameter rolls. To reduce the need for small rolls pack rolling is used, which rolls multiple sheets together to increase the effective starting thickness. As the foil sheets come through the rollers, they are trimmed and slitted with circular or razor-like knives . Trimming refers to the edges of the foil, while slitting involves cutting it into several sheets. Aluminum foil is the most commonly produced product via pack rolling. This

2700-565: A subsidiary named J. W. Garrington, which specialised in forgings; the forgings produced at the Garrington Darlaston plant, later supplemented by a large plant at Bromsgrove , enabled GKN to become a major supplier of crankshafts , connecting rods, half-shafts and numerous smaller forged components to the UK auto-industry, which had a period of massive expansion during the interwar period and beyond. Another company, eventually acquired by GKN,

2835-714: A tendency to disintegrate after hitting roadside kerbs, Sankey developed a pioneering pressed-steel wheel. Production started in 1908, with customers including Austin Motor Company and, later, William Morris . In addition to Sankey's original factory at Bilston , a new plant was established near Wellington, Shropshire , which was devoted to wheel production and known as GKN Sankey. Meanwhile, by 1914, GKN's customers for sheet-steel vehicle bodies had also come to include Austin, along with Daimler , Humber , Rover , Star and Argyll . After John Lysaght acquired Joseph Sankey and Sons Ltd, GKN purchased both companies, in 1920. By

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2970-576: A £8.1 billion deal. The company's name is the initials of three early figures in its history: John Guest , Arthur Keen , and Joseph Henry Nettlefold . All three were key figures in the field of iron and steel during the Industrial Revolution . Ivor Guest sold the Dowlais Iron Company in Wales to Arthur Keen and Windsor Richards of Birmingham's Patent Nut and Bolt Company in June 1900. They combined

3105-700: A €706 million deal. GKN Aerospace chief Kevin Cummings stated that the Fokker purchase enhances GKN's global manufacturing footprint and brought new technology to the company. Throughout the 2010s, there was strong demand for GKN's aerostructures; earlier, the company had secured manufacturing contracts to produce elements of the Boeing 787 , Airbus A350 XWB , Airbus A400M Atlas , and Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II , in addition to numerous other aircraft. During early 2011, it

3240-570: Is a type of thermomechanical processing which integrates controlled deformation and heat treating . The heat which brings the workpiece above the recrystallization temperature is also used to perform the heat treatments so that any subsequent heat treating is unnecessary. Types of heat treatments include the production of a fine grain structure; controlling the nature, size, and distribution of various transformation products (such as ferrite , austenite , pearlite , bainite , and martensite in steel); inducing precipitation hardening ; and, controlling

3375-420: Is classified according to the temperature of the metal rolled. If the temperature of the metal is above its recrystallization temperature, then the process is known as hot rolling . If the temperature of the metal is below its recrystallization temperature, the process is known as cold rolling . In terms of usage, hot rolling processes more tonnage than any other manufacturing process, and cold rolling processes

3510-536: Is continuously deformed to produce a certain finished product with smaller cross section dimension and geometry. Starting from a given billet, different sequences can be adopted to produce a certain final product. However, since each rolling mill is significantly expensive (up to 2 million euros), a typical requirement is to reduce the number of rolling passes. Different approaches have been achieved, including empirical knowledge, employment of numerical models, and Artificial Intelligence techniques. Lambiase et al. validated

3645-417: Is done in a gas- or oil-fired soaking pit for larger workpieces; for smaller workpieces, induction heating is used. As the material is worked, the temperature must be monitored to make sure it remains above the recrystallization temperature. To maintain a safety factor a finishing temperature is defined above the recrystallization temperature; this is usually 50 to 100 °C (122 to 212 °F) above

3780-427: Is done in one pass. In a traditional rolling mill rolling is done in several passes, but in tandem mill there are several stands (>=2 stands) and reductions take place successively. The number of stands ranges from 2 to 18. Tandem mills can be either of hot or cold rolling mill types. Cold rolling mills may be further divided into continuous or batch processing. A continuous mill has a looping tower which allows

3915-411: Is evident from the two different surface finishes; the shiny side is on the roll side and the dull side is against the other sheet of foil. Ring rolling is a specialized type of hot rolling that increases the diameter of a ring. The starting material is a thick-walled ring. This workpiece is placed between two rolls, an inner idler roll and a driven roll , which presses the ring from the outside. As

4050-419: Is fed in between two rollers , called working rolls , that rotate in opposite directions. The gap between the two rolls is less than the thickness of the starting material, which causes it to deform . The decrease in material thickness causes the material to elongate. The friction at the interface between the material and the rolls causes the material to be pushed through. The amount of deformation possible in

4185-420: Is mainly used to preform long-scaled billets through targeted mass distribution for parts such as crankshafts, connection rods, steering knuckles and vehicle axles. Narrowest manufacturing tolerances can only partially be achieved by forge rolling. This is the main reason why forge rolling is rarely used for finishing, but mainly for preforming. Characteristics of forge rolling: A rolling mill , also known as

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4320-403: Is obtained. Roll forming is ideal for producing parts with long lengths or in large quantities. There are three main processes: 4 rollers, 3 rollers and 2 rollers, each of which has as different advantages according to the desired specifications of the output plate. Flat rolling is the most basic form of rolling with the starting and ending material having a rectangular cross-section. The material

4455-410: Is often handled through international arbitration . The actions of multinational corporations are strongly supported by economic liberalism and free market system in a globalized international society. According to the economic realist view, individuals act in rational ways to maximize their self-interest and therefore, when individuals act rationally, markets are created and they function best in

4590-865: Is usually a large corporation incorporated in one country that produces or sells goods or services in various countries. Two common characteristics shared by MNCs are their large size and centrally controlled worldwide activities. MNCs may gain from their global presence in a variety of ways. First of all, MNCs can benefit from the economy of scale by spreading R&D expenditures and advertising costs over their global sales, pooling global purchasing power over suppliers, and utilizing their technological and managerial experience globally with minimal additional costs. Furthermore, MNCs can use their global presence to take advantage of underpriced labor services available in certain developing countries and gain access to special R&D capabilities residing in advanced foreign countries. The problem of moral and legal constraints upon

4725-450: The Airbus plant at Filton near Bristol for £150 million in 2008 and all of Getrag 's axle business and axle manufacturing facilities in 2011. During December 2011, GKN Aerospace Engineering services division was acquired by product engineering firm Quest Global. The sale was accompanied by an agreement for QuestGlobal to provide engineering resources to GKN Aerospace; this cooperation

4860-620: The Swedish Africa Company founded in 1649 and the Hudson's Bay Company founded in 1670. These early corporations engaged in international trade and exploration and set up trading posts. The Dutch government took over the VOC in 1799, and during the 19th century, other governments increasingly took over private companies, most notably in British India. During the process of decolonization ,

4995-745: The history of colonialism . The first multi-national corporations were founded to set up colonial "factories" or port cities. The two main examples were the British East India Company founded in 1600 and the Dutch East India Company (VOC) founded in 1602. In addition to carrying on trade between Great Britain and its colonies, the British East India Company became a quasi-government in its own right, with local government officials and its own army in India. Other examples include

5130-429: The toughness . In order to achieve this the entire process must be closely monitored and controlled. Common variables in controlled rolling include the starting material composition and structure, deformation levels, temperatures at various stages, and cool-down conditions. The benefits of controlled rolling include better mechanical properties and energy savings. Forge rolling is a longitudinal rolling process to reduce

5265-531: The vertical integration fashionable at the time embracing activities from coal and ore extraction, and iron and steel making to manufacturing finished goods. After the First World War , it became apparent that Britain was likely to follow France and the United States in developing a large scale automotive industry. During 1919, GKN acquired another fastener manufacturer, F. W. Cotterill Ltd. Cotterill owned

5400-433: The "Goat Mill", the world's most powerful rolling mill . By the mid-1860s, Clark's reforms had borne fruit in renewed profitability . Clark delegated day-to-day management to Menelaus, his trusteeship terminating in 1864 when ownership passed to Sir Ivor Guest . Clark continued to direct policy, building a new plant at the docks at Cardiff and vetoing a joint-stock company . He formally retired in 1897. On 9 July 1900,

5535-521: The 1960s, GKN was manufacturing many other kinds of automotive components, including chassis for the Triumph Herald and its derivatives. The company also developed the GKN FV432 armoured personnel carrier. By 1969, the highly-automated GKN Wheels Wellington plant was producing over 5½ million wheels per year, with a maximum rate of approximately 30,000 units per day. The postwar government nationalised

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5670-584: The 1980s, GKN Steel reduced its presence in the steel sector, selling off or shutting down its works. GKN Steel renamed itself GKN during 1986 to indicate its shift away from steel production. Business activities were re-orientated around the aerospace, automotive and industrial services markets. In 1994, GKN purchased Westland Aircraft . The company later organised a joint venture of Westland's helicopter interests with Agusta to form AgustaWestland and its sale to Italian defense firm Finmeccanica . During November 1995, Dana Corporation purchased GKN's axle group;

5805-789: The Back-up Rolls from about Stand 3 of the Hot Strip Mill through to the Finished Product. The Back-up Roll eccentricity can be up to 100 μm in magnitude per stack. The eccentricity can be measured off-line by plotting the force variation against time with the Mill on creep, no strip present, and the Mill Stand below face. A modified Fourier analysis was employed by the 5 Stand Cold Mill at Bluescope Steel, Port Kembla from 1986 until that Cold Mill ceased production in 2009. Within each coil,

5940-522: The Backup Rolls of each Stand. If a Mill Stand is fitted with Hydraulic Pistons in series with, or instead of the electrically driven Mechanical Screws, then it is possible to eliminate the effect of that Stands Back-up Roll eccentricity. While rolling, the eccentricity of each Back-up Roll is determined by sampling the roll force and assigning it to the corresponding portion of each Back-up Roll's rotational position. These recordings are then used to operate

6075-521: The Dowlais Iron Company and Arthur Keen 's Patent Nut and Bolt Company merged to form Guest, Keen & Co. Ltd . Nettlefolds Limited , a leading manufacturer of fasteners, established in Smethwick , West Midlands in 1854, was acquired in 1902, leading to the change of name to Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds (GKN). In 1920 John Lysaght and Co. was acquired. Steel production remained at

6210-546: The English language. Senior officials, although mostly still Swedish, all learned English and all major internal documents were in English, the lingua franca of multinational corporations. After the war, the number of businesses having at least one foreign country operation rose drastically from a few thousand to 78,411 in 2007. Meanwhile, 74% of parent companies are located in economically advanced countries. Developing and former communist countries such as China, India, and Brazil are

6345-640: The European colonial charter companies were disbanded, with the final colonial corporation, the Mozambique Company , dissolving in 1972. Mining of gold, silver, copper, and oil was a major activity early on and remains so today. International mining companies became prominent in Britain in the 19th century, such as the Rio Tinto company founded in 1873, which started with the purchase of sulfur and copper mines from

6480-473: The Hydraulic Piston so as to neutralize the eccentricities. In a flat metal workpiece, the flatness is a descriptive attribute characterizing the extent of the geometric deviation from a reference plane. The deviation from complete flatness is the direct result of the workpiece relaxation after hot or cold rolling, due to the internal stress pattern caused by the non-uniform transversal compressive action of

6615-557: The International Energy Agency (IEA), enabling states to coordinate policy, gather data, and monitor global oil reserves. In the 1970s, OPEC gradually nationalized the Seven Sisters. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the only largest world oil producer, could leverage this. However, Saudi Arabia opted for the correct approach and maintained consistent oil prices throughout the 1970s. In 1979, the "second oil shock" came from

6750-501: The London Stock Exchange. GKN Aerospace continues to be owned by Melrose plc. Throughout the majority of the twentieth century, though steel production remained the core of GKN it branched into tooling and component manufacturing. It was deeply impacted by government policies during the latter half of the century, during which Britain's steel industry was subject to multiple nationalisation and privatisation efforts. During

6885-505: The Netherlands has become a popular choice, as its company laws have fewer requirements for meetings, compensation, and audit committees, and Great Britain had advantages due to laws on withholding dividends and a double-taxation treaty with the United States. Corporations can legally engage in tax avoidance through their choice of jurisdiction but must be careful to avoid illegal tax evasion . Corporations that are broadly active across

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7020-545: The OLI framework. The other theoretical dimension of the role of multinational corporations concerns the relationship between the globalization of economic engagement and the culture of national and local responses. This has a history of self-conscious cultural management going back at least to the 60s. For example: Ernest Dichter, architect, of Exxon's international campaign, writing in the Harvard Business Review in 1963,

7155-571: The Spanish government. Rio Tinto, now based in London and Melbourne , Australia, has made many acquisitions and expanded globally to mine aluminum , iron ore , copper , uranium , and diamonds . European mines in South Africa began opening in the late 19th century, producing gold and other minerals for the world market, jobs for locals, and business and profits for companies. Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902)

7290-449: The Swedish engineer Christopher Polhem in his Patriotista Testamente of 1761, where he mentions rolling mills for both plate and bar iron. He also explains how rolling mills can save on time and labor because a rolling mill can produce 10 to 20 or more bars at the same time. A patent was granted to Thomas Blockley of England in 1759 for the polishing and rolling of metals. Another patent

7425-458: The Third World colonies. That changed dramatically after 1945 as investors turned to industrialized countries and invested in manufacturing (especially high-tech electronics, chemicals, drugs, and vehicles) as well as trade. Sweden's leading manufacturing concern was SKF , a leading maker of bearings for machinery. In order to expand its international business, it decided in 1966 it needed to use

7560-636: The U.S. applies its corporate taxation "extraterritorially", which has motivated tax inversions to change the home state. By 2019, most OECD nations, with the notable exception of the U.S., had moved to territorial tax in which only revenue inside the border was taxed; however, these nations typically scrutinize foreign income with controlled foreign corporation (CFC) rules to avoid base erosion and profit shifting . In practice, even under an extraterritorial system, taxes may be deferred until remittance, with possible repatriation tax holidays , and subject to foreign tax credits . Countries generally cannot tax

7695-527: The United States sanctions against Iran ; European companies faced with the possibility of losing access to the U.S. market by trading with Iran. International investment agreements also facilitate direct investment between two countries, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and most favored nation status. Raymond Vernon reported in 1977 that of the largest multinationals focused on manufacturing, 250 were headquartered in

7830-506: The United States scrutinizes foreign investments. In addition, corporations may be prohibited from various business transactions by international sanctions or domestic laws. For example, Chinese domestic corporations or citizens have limitations on their ability to make foreign investments outside China, in part to reduce capital outflow . Countries can impose extraterritorial sanctions on foreign corporations even for doing business with other foreign corporations, which occurred in 2019 with

7965-609: The United States as the largest consumer and guarantor of the existing oil security order. Since the Iraq War, OPEC has had only a minor influence on oil prices, but it has expanded to 11 members, accounting for about 40 percent of total global oil production, although this is a decline from nearly 50 percent in 1974. Oil has practically become a common commodity, leading to much more volatile prices. Most OPEC members are wealthy, and most remain dependent on oil revenues, which has serious consequences, such as when OPEC members were pressured by

8100-461: The United States from 2010. The USA became the leading oil producer, creating tension with OPEC. In 2014, Saudi Arabia increased production to push new American producers out of the market, leading to lower prices. OPEC then reduced production in 2016 to raise prices, further worsening relations with the United States. By 2012, only 7% of the world's known oil reserves were in countries that allowed private international companies free rein; 65% were in

8235-471: The United States on the global oil market. In 1959, companies lowered the price of oil due to a surplus in the market. This reduction dealt a significant blow to the finances of producers. Saudi oil minister Abdullah Tariki and Venezuela’s Juan Perez Alfonso entered into a secret agreement (the Mahdi Pact), promising that if the price of oil was lowered a second time, they would take collective action against

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8370-669: The United States turned to foreign oil sources, which had a significant impact on the recovery of the West after World War II. Most of the world's oil was found in Latin America and the Middle East, particularly in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. This increase in non-American production was enabled by multinational corporations known as the 'Seven Sisters'. The "Seven Sisters" was a common term for

8505-561: The United States, 115 in Western Europe, 70 in Japan, and 20 in the rest of the world. The multinationals in banking numbered 20 headquartered in the United States, 13 in Europe, nine in Japan and three in Canada. Today multinationals can select from a variety of jurisdictions for various subsidiaries, but the ultimate parent company can select a single legal domicile ; The Economist suggests that

8640-451: The West to the post-colonial South and invest either in foreign expenditures or ostentatious economic development projects. After 1974, most of the money from OPEC members ceased as payments for goods and services or investments in Western industry. In February 1974, the first Washington Energy Conference was convened. The most significant contribution of this conference was the establishment of

8775-591: The automotive field in 1966 GKN bought BRD's much larger competitor, Birfield Ltd, which held the great bulk of the British market for CVJs, constant velocity joints, and was a company that since 1938 had incorporated both the Sheffield based Laycock Engineering later best known as a postwar overdrive manufacturer, and Hardy Spicer Limited of Birmingham , England, also a manufacturer of constant-velocity joints . Historically, such joints had few applications, even following

8910-408: The back side of the smaller rolls. A four-high mill has four rolls, two small and two large. A cluster mill has more than four rolls, usually in three tiers. These types of mills are commonly used to hot roll wide plates, most cold rolling applications, and to roll foils. Historically mills were classified by the product produced: A tandem mill is a special type of modern rolling mill where rolling

9045-462: The behavior of multinational corporations, given that they are effectively "stateless" actors, is one of several urgent global socioeconomic problems that has emerged during the late twentieth century. Potentially, the best concept for analyzing society's governance limitations over modern corporations is the concept of "stateless corporations". Coined at least as early as 1991 in Business Week ,

9180-405: The center as compared to the average thickness at the edges of the workpiece. Wedge is a measure of the thickness at one edge as opposed to the other edge. Both may be expressed as absolute measurements or as relative measurements. For instance, one could have 2 mil of crown (the center of the workpiece is 2 mil thicker than the edges), or one could have 2% crown (the center of the workpiece

9315-728: The collapse of the Shah's regime in Iran. Iran became a regional power due to oil money and American weapons. The Shah eventually abdicated and fled the country. This prompted a strike by thousands of Iranian oil workers, significantly reducing oil production in Iran. Saudi Arabia tried to cope with the crisis by increasing production, but oil prices still soared, leading to the "second oil shock." Saudi Arabia significantly reduced oil production, losing most of its revenues. In 1986, Riyadh changed course, and oil production in Saudi Arabia sharply increased, flooding

9450-650: The companies. This occurred in 1960. Prior to the 1973 oil crisis , the Seven Sisters controlled around 85 percent of the world's petroleum reserves . In the 1970s, most countries with large reserves nationalized their reserves that had been owned by major oil companies. Since then, industry dominance has shifted to the OPEC cartel and state-owned oil and gas companies, such as Saudi Aramco , Gazprom (Russia), China National Petroleum Corporation , National Iranian Oil Company , PDVSA (Venezuela), Petrobras (Brazil), and Petronas (Malaysia). A unilateral increase in oil prices

9585-553: The company fired-up the single remaining blast furnace at Dowlais. During the Second World War , all of the sites were heavily bombed by Nazi Germany 's Luftwaffe , and the required investment meant that all of these assets were nationalised as part of the Iron and Steel Act 1949, resultantly becoming part of the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain . GKN were still highly reliant on

9720-510: The conception was theoretically clarified in 1993: that an empirical strategy for defining a stateless corporation is with analytical tools at the intersection between demographic analysis and transportation research. This intersection is known as logistics management , and it describes the importance of rapidly increasing global mobility of resources. In a long history of analysis of multinational corporations, we are some quarter-century into an era of stateless corporations—corporations that meet

9855-456: The core of the company, but under increasing profit margin pressure. In 1930, the company combined its steel production business with that of rival Baldwins to form Guest Keen Baldwins , which now held: In 1935, the company demolished the Cardiff works to construct a new production facility on the same site, funded by an issue of debentures . Due to a resultant global shortage of pig iron, in 1937,

9990-402: The cost of being more expensive. Roll bending produces a cylindrical shaped product from plate or steel metals. Roll forming, roll bending or plate rolling is a continuous bending operation in which a long strip of metal (typically coiled steel) is passed through consecutive sets of rolls, or stands, each performing only an incremental part of the bend, until the desired cross-section profile

10125-643: The creation of a "world customer". The idea of a global corporate village entailed the management and reconstitution of parochial attachments to one's nation. It involved not a denial of the naturalness of national attachments, but an internationalization of the way a nation defines itself. "Multinational enterprise" (MNE) is the term used by international economist and similarly defined with the multinational corporation (MNC) as an enterprise that controls and manages production establishments, known as plants located in at least two countries. The multinational enterprise (MNE) will engage in foreign direct investment (FDI) as

10260-403: The cross-section is relatively uniform and the transverse dimension is relatively small. Cold rolling shapes requires a series of shaping operations, usually along the lines of sizing, breakdown, roughing, semi-roughing, semi-finishing, and finishing. If processed by a blacksmith, the smoother, more consistent, and lower levels of carbon encapsulated in the steel makes it easier to process, but at

10395-436: The cross-sectional area of heated bars or billets by leading them between two contrary rotating roll segments. The process is mainly used to provide optimized material distribution for subsequent die forging processes. Owing to this a better material utilization, lower process forces and better surface quality of parts can be achieved in die forging processes. Basically any forgeable metal can also be forge-rolled. Forge rolling

10530-410: The death of founder Tony Vandervell in 1967, GKN acquired the lucrative Maidenhead -based Vandervell bearing manufacturer that was at the time exporting more than 50% of its output to overseas vehicle manufacturers. This was part of a larger trend for GKN that during this period, under its Managing Director Raymond Brookes , was working to reduce its dependence on UK auto-maker customers at a time when

10665-506: The debate from a neo-liberal perspective in Storm over the Multinationals (1977). Rolling mill In metalworking , rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is similar to the rolling of dough . Rolling

10800-403: The differential fiber elongation across the width of the workpiece. This property must be subject to an accurate feedback-based control in order to guarantee the machinability of the metal sheets in the final transformation processes. Some technological details about the feedback control of flatness are given in. Profile is made up of the measurements of crown and wedge. Crown is the thickness in

10935-467: The disadvantage is that the rolls must be stopped, reversed, and then brought back up to rolling speed between each pass. To resolve this, the three-high mill was invented, which uses three rolls that rotate in one direction; the metal is fed through two of the rolls and then returned through the other pair. The disadvantage to this system is the workpiece must be lifted and lowered using an elevator. All of these mills are usually used for primary rolling and

11070-430: The domestic industry was seen to be stumbling, in response to bewildering "Government interference and fiscal short-sightedness", with British new car registrations in the first four months of 1969 a massive 33% down on the corresponding period of the previous year. As a result of the large number of mergers, Abram Games was commissioned to develop a new corporate identity in 1969 when the distinctive angular GKN symbol

11205-427: The exit thickness deviation times 10 for every meter of strip was stored in a file. This file was analyzed separately for each frequency/wavelength from 5 m to 60 m in steps of 0.1 m. To improve the accuracy, care was taken to use a full multiple of each wavelength (100*). The calculate amplitudes were plotted against the wavelength, so that the spikes could be compared to the expected wavelengths created by

11340-533: The factory, and then occupied it . A workers' collective was formed with the objective of taking a shareholding in the business. In March 2023, Melrose announced that it would demerge GKN Automotive and GKN Powder Metallurgy as Dowlais Group . The company is organised as follows: Multinational corporation Most of the current largest and most influential companies are publicly traded multinational corporations, including Forbes Global 2000 companies. The history of multinational corporations began with

11475-569: The firm acquired the helicopter manufacturing business of Westland Aircraft . In 1998, GKN's armoured vehicle business was sold to Alvis plc ; this division was subsequently incorporated into Alvis Vickers Ltd . During November 1995, associate Dana Corporation purchased GKN's axle group; at that time, GKN held 34% of the world market for constant velocity joints. Around this same time period, GKN acquired larger shares of its other driveline joint ventures with Dana in Brazil, Argentina and Colombia. From

11610-481: The firm makes direct investments in host country plants for equity ownership and managerial control to avoid some transaction costs . Sanjaya Lall in 1974 proposed a spectrum of scholarly analysis of multinational corporations, from the political right to the left. He put the business school how-to-do-it writers at the extreme right, followed by the liberal laissez-faire economists, and the neoliberals (they remain right of center but do allow for occasional mistakes of

11745-416: The hands of state-owned companies that operated in one country and sold oil to multinationals such as BP, Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron. Down through the 1930s, about 80% of the international investments by multinational corporations were concentrated in the primary sector, especially mining (especially oil) and agriculture (rubber, tobacco, sugar, palm oil , coffee, cocoa, and tropical fruits). Most went to

11880-464: The improved design proposed by Alfred H. Rzeppa in 1936. However, in 1959, Alec Issigonis had developed the revolutionary Mini motor car that relied on the Hardy Spicer joints for its front wheel drive technology. The massive expansion in the exploitation of front wheel drive in the 1970s and 1980s led to the acquisition of other similar businesses and a 43% share of the world market by 2002. On

12015-415: The internationalization of production. For the first time in history, production, marketing, and investment are being organized on a global scale rather than in terms of isolated national economies. International business is also a specialist field of academic research. Economic theories of the multinational corporation include internalization theory and the eclectic paradigm . The latter is also known as

12150-460: The largest recipients. However, 70% of foreign direct investment went into developed countries in the form of stocks and cash flows. The rise in the number of multinational companies could be due to a stable political environment that encourages cooperation, advances in technology that enable management of faraway regions, and favorable organizational development that encourages business expansion into other countries. A multinational corporation (MNC)

12285-666: The late 1990s, the company built up a major global business in powder metallurgy , which operates as the GKN Powdered Metallurgy group. During early 1998, GKN and Italian aerospace company Finmeccanica commenced discussions on the topic of merging their helicopter operations; French aerospace conglomerate Aérospatiale had also reportedly made its own approaches around this time. In July 2000, GKN and Finmeccanica announced an agreement to merge their respective helicopter subsidiaries, Westland and Agusta respectively, to form AgustaWestland . On 20 May 2004, GKN confirmed that it

12420-474: The laws and regulations of both their domicile and the additional jurisdictions where they are engaged in business. In some cases, the jurisdiction can help to avoid burdensome laws, but regulatory statutes often target the "enterprise" with statutory language around "control". As of 1992 , the United States and most OECD countries have the donot legal authority to tax a domiciled parent corporation on its worldwide revenue, including subsidiaries. As of 2019 ,

12555-434: The market with cheap oil. This caused a worldwide drop in oil prices, hence the "third oil shock" or "counter-shock." However, this shock represented something much bigger—the end of OPEC's dominance and its control over oil prices. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein decided to attack Kuwait. The invasion sparked a crisis in the Middle East, prompting Saudi Arabia to request assistance from the United States. The United States sent

12690-475: The marketplace such as externalities). Moving to the left side of the line are nationalists, who prioritize national interests over corporate profits, then the "dependencia" school in Latin America that focuses on the evils of imperialism, and on the far left the Marxists. The range is so broad that scholarly consensus is hard to discern. Anti-corporate advocates criticize multinational corporations for being without

12825-420: The metal from work hardening . The starting material is usually large pieces of metal, like semi-finished casting products , such as ingots , slabs , blooms , and billets . If these products came from a continuous casting operation, the products are usually fed directly into the rolling mills at the proper temperature. In smaller operations, the material starts at room temperature and must be heated. This

12960-512: The mill to continue rolling slowly the strip in the tower, while a strip welder joins the tail of the current coil to the head of the next coil. At the exit end of the mill there is normally a flying shear (to cut the strip at or near the weld) followed by two coilers; one being unloaded while the other winds on the current coil. Looping towers are also used in other places; such as continuous annealing lines and continuous electrolytic tinning and continuous galvanising lines . In hot rolling, if

13095-609: The most tonnage out of all cold working processes. Roll stands holding pairs of rolls are grouped together into rolling mills that can quickly process metal, typically steel , into products such as structural steel ( I-beams , angle stock, channel stock), bar stock , and rails . Most steel mills have rolling mill divisions that convert the semi-finished casting products into finished products. There are many types of rolling processes, including ring rolling , roll bending , roll forming , profile rolling , and controlled rolling . The earliest rolling mills in crude form but

13230-409: The number of passes in rolling mills is the employment of automated systems for Roll Pass Design as that proposed by Lambiase and Langella. subsequently, Lambiase further developed an Automated System based on Artificial Intelligence and particularly an integrated system including an inferential engine based on Genetic Algorithms a knowledge database based on an Artificial Neural Network trained by

13365-524: The overall dimension. Hot-rolled mild steel seems to have a wider tolerance for the level of included carbon than does cold-rolled steel, and is, therefore, more difficult for a blacksmith to use. Hot rolling is used mainly to produce sheet metal or simple cross-sections, such as rail tracks . Rolling mills are often divided into roughing, intermediate and finishing rolling cages. During shape rolling, an initial billet (round or square) with edge of diameter typically ranging between 100 and 140 mm

13500-560: The price collapse in 1998–1999. The United States still maintains close relations with Saudi Arabia. In 2003, U.S. forces invaded Iraq with the aim of removing the dictatorship and gaining access to Iraqi oil reserves, giving the United States greater strategic importance from 2000 to 2008. During this period, there was a constant shortage of oil, but its consumption continued to rise, maintaining high prices and leading to concerns about "peak oil". From 2005 to 2012, there were advances in oil and gas extraction, leading to increased production in

13635-595: The realities of the needs of source materials on a worldwide basis and to produce and customize products for individual countries. One of the first multinational business organizations, the East India Company , was established in 1601. After the East India Company came the Dutch East India Company , founded on March 20, 1603, which would become the largest company in the world for nearly 200 years. The main characteristics of multinational companies are: When

13770-500: The recrystallization temperature. If the temperature does drop below this temperature the material must be re-heated prior to additional hot rolling. Hot-rolled metals generally have little directionality in their mechanical properties or deformation-induced residual stresses . However, in certain instances non-metallic inclusions will impart some directionality and workpieces less than 20 mm (0.79 in) thick often have some directional properties. Non-uniform cooling will induce

13905-594: The reputation of being "one of the World's great industrial concerns". Though the Bessemer process was licensed in 1856, nine years of detailed planning and project management were needed before the first steel was produced. The company thrived with its new cost-effective production methods, forming alliances with the Consett Iron Company and Krupp . By 1857, G.T. Clark and William Menelaus, his manager, had constructed

14040-428: The roll diameters range from 60 to 140 cm (24 to 55 in). To minimize the roll diameter a four-high or cluster mill is used. A small roll diameter is advantageous because less roll is in contact with the material, which results in a lower force and power requirement. The problem with a small roll is a reduction of stiffness, which is overcome using backup rolls . These backup rolls are larger and contact

14175-488: The rolling occurs the wall thickness decreases as the diameter increases. The rolls may be shaped to form various cross-sectional shapes. The resulting grain structure is circumferential, which gives better mechanical properties. Diameters can be as large as 8 m (26 ft) and face heights as tall as 2 m (79 in). Common applications include railway tyres, bearings , gears , rockets , turbines , airplanes , pipes , and pressure vessels . Controlled rolling

14310-413: The rolls and the uneven geometrical properties of the entry material. The transverse distribution of differential strain/elongation-induced stress with respect to the material's average applied stress is commonly referenced to as shape. Due to the strict relationship between shape and flatness, these terms can be used in an interchangeable manner. In the case of metal strips and sheets, the flatness reflects

14445-399: The rolls are heated to assist in the workability of the metal. Lubrication is often used to keep the workpiece from sticking to the rolls. To fine-tune the process, the speed of the rolls and the temperature of the rollers are adjusted. For thin sheet metal with a thickness less than 200 μm (0.0079 in), the rolling is done in a cluster mill because the small thickness requires

14580-564: The same basic principles were found in Middle East and South Asia as early as 600 BCE. The invention of the rolling mill in Europe may be attributed to Leonardo da Vinci in his drawings. Earliest rolling mills were slitting mills , which were introduced from what is now Belgium to England in 1590. These passed flat bars between rolls to form a plate of iron, which was then passed between grooved rolls (slitters) to produce rods of iron. The first experiments at rolling iron for tinplate took place about 1670. In 1697, Major John Hanbury erected

14715-427: The same products that are hot rolled. Because of the smaller size of the workpieces and their greater strength, as compared to hot rolled stock, four-high or cluster mills are used. Cold rolling cannot reduce the thickness of a workpiece as much as hot rolling in a single pass. Cold-rolled sheets and strips come in various conditions: full-hard , half-hard , quarter-hard , and skin-rolled . Full-hard rolling reduces

14850-457: The seven multinational companies that dominated the global petroleum industry from the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s. The nationalization of the Iranian oil industry in 1951 by Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and the subsequent boycott of Iranian oil by all companies had dramatic consequences for Iran and the international oil market. Iran was unable to sell any of its oil. In August 1953,

14985-571: The steel industry under Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain . The act of parliament of 1949 took effect in February 1951. In 1951, a new subsidiary Blade Research & Development (BRD) was formed at Aldridge , Staffordshire , to produce aero-engine turbine blades. Following a fall in demand for turbine blades in the late 1950s, the BRD factory switched to producing constant-velocity joints and driveshafts for vehicles. In 1953, Britain's steel industry

15120-423: The supply of good quality steel thus, in 1954, the business negotiated from the asset realisation company the repurchase of key assets from ISC, which were renamed Guest Keen Iron and Steel Co. In 1961, the company's name was changed again to GKN Steel Company . These mergers heralded half a century in which GKN became a major manufacturer of screws , nuts , bolts and other fasteners . The company reflected

15255-412: The surface and thereby reduces the possibility of formation of Lüders bands. To avoid the formation of Lüders bands it is necessary to create substantial density of unpinned dislocations in ferrite matrix. It is also used to break up the spangles in galvanized steel. Skin-rolled stock is usually used in subsequent cold-working processes where good ductility is required. Other shapes can be cold-rolled if

15390-432: The temperature of the workpiece is not uniform the flow of the material will occur more in the warmer parts and less in the cooler. If the temperature difference is great enough cracking and tearing can occur. The cooler sections are, among other things, a result of the supports in the re-heat furnace. When cold rolling, virtually all of the strip thickness variation is the result of the eccentricity and out-of-roundness of

15525-454: The then-prime minister was overthrown by a pro-American dictatorship led by the Shah, and in October 1954, the Iranian industry was denationalized. Worldwide oil consumption increased rapidly between 1949 and 1970, a period known as the 'golden age of oil'. This increase in consumption was caused not only by the growth of production by multinational oil companies but also by the strong influence of

15660-490: The thickness by 50%, while the others involve less of a reduction. Cold rolled steel is then annealed to induce ductility in the cold rolled steel which is simply known as a Cold Rolled and Close Annealed . Skin-rolling, also known as a skin-pass , involves the least amount of reduction: 0.5–1%. It is used to produce a smooth surface, a uniform thickness, and reduce the yield point phenomenon (by preventing Lüders bands from forming in later processing). It locks dislocations at

15795-500: The time, thus becoming a topic of political debate. In 1989, GKN Steel's factory at Bilston , in the West Midlands , was permanently closed and subsequently demolished. Having disposed of its steel production asset, the company renamed itself GKN in 1986. The firm focused on military vehicles, aerospace and industrial services. During the 1990s, GKN completed a series of large acquisitions and industrial consolidations. During 1994,

15930-502: The two businesses and formed Guest, Keen & Co. Limited on 1 November 1900. A little over twelve months later, Guest Keen & Co bought and amalgamated Nettlefolds Limited into their new combine giving it the style Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds Limited . The origins of GKN lie in the founding of the Dowlais Ironworks in the village of Dowlais , Merthyr Tydfil , Wales , by Thomas Lewis and Isaac Wilkinson . John Guest

16065-461: The two firms continued to operate joint ventures in the field for many years. During the early 2000s, it took over Tochigi Fuji Sangyo K.K, a Japanese manufacturer of differentials and driveline torque systems. During December 2011, GKN Aerospace Engineering services division was sold to product engineering firm Quest Global. In 2012, GKN acquired the Swedish aerospace engine specialist Volvo Aero . During 2018, Melrose Industries acquired GKN with

16200-573: The world without a concentration in one area have been called stateless or "transnational" (although "transnational corporation" is also used synonymously with "multinational corporation" ), but as of 1992, a corporation must be legally domiciled in a particular country and engage in other countries through foreign direct investment and the creation of foreign subsidiaries. Geographic diversification can be measured across various domains, including ownership and control, workforce, sales, and regulation and taxation. Multinational corporations may be subject to

16335-503: The worldwide revenue of a foreign subsidiary, and taxation is complicated by transfer pricing arrangements with parent corporations. For small corporations, registering a foreign subsidiary can be expensive and complex, involving fees, signatures, and forms; a professional employer organization (PEO) is sometimes advertised as a cheaper and simpler alternative, but not all jurisdictions have laws accepting these types of arrangements. Disputes between corporations in different nations

16470-580: Was announced that GKN and EADS would cooperate on developing radical additive layer manufacturing technology for aerospace purposes. That same year, the Honda Aircraft Company picked GKN to produce the whole composite fuselage of its Honda HA-420 HondaJet at the latter's facility in Alabama . In late 2012, it opened a new composite manufacturing facility in Mexicali , Mexico . During the same year, GKN

16605-418: Was appointed manager of the works in 1767, having moved from Broseley . In 1786, Guest was succeeded by his son, Thomas Guest, who formed the Dowlais Iron Company with his son-in-law William Taitt. Guest introduced many innovations and the works prospered. Under Guest's leadership, alongside his manager John Evans, and after his death in 1852 that of his wife Lady Charlotte Guest , the Dowlais Ironworks gained

16740-482: Was contracted to provide fuselage components for the Bell 525 Relentless helicopter. During January 2018, Melrose Industries announced plans to purchase GKN and its restructuring thereafter; that same month, GKN's management rejected the initial bid made. In March 2018, Melrose submitted a revised £8.1 billion bid for the company; this bid was controversial and was subject to criticism, being branded by some press agencies as

16875-452: Was created and the new company colours of blue and white introduced. In 1974, GKN acquired Kirkstall Forge Engineering , a manufacturer of truck axles in Leeds . By 1968, GKN Steel had recreated its downline business, and started to build its upline business through aggressive building of a steel stockholding business. In 1972, it acquired Firth Cleveland, a hot and cold rolled strip business with

17010-400: Was de-nationalised by a new government; this policy only lasted for 14 years before being reversed. At the end of April 1965, the recently elected Labour government published a White Paper proposing the nationalisation of 90 per cent, by output, of Britain's steel industry. GKN Steel was transferred to public ownership at the end of July 1967. Beginning a programme of diversification into

17145-559: Was established by John Birkenshaw at Bedlington Ironworks in Northumberland , England, in 1820, where he produced fish-bellied wrought iron rails in lengths of 15 to 18 feet. With the advancement of technology in rolling mills, the size of rolling mills grew rapidly along with the size of the products being rolled. One example of this was at The Great Exhibition in London in 1851, where a plate 20 feet long, 3 1 ⁄ 2 feet wide, and 7/16 of an inch thick, and weighing 1,125 pounds,

17280-407: Was exhibited by the Consett Iron Company . Further evolution of the rolling mill came with the introduction of three-high mills in 1853 used for rolling heavy sections. Hot rolling is a metalworking process that occurs above the recrystallization temperature of the material. After the grains deform during processing, they recrystallize, which maintains an equiaxed microstructure and prevents

17415-425: Was founded by another steel manufacturing entrepreneur, Joseph Sankey . After training as a mechanical engineer in the late 19th century, Sankey founding a company that became a major producer of tea trays . A pioneering motorist, Sankey became friends with figures such as Herbert Austin , and was also a supplier of sheet steel components to the nascent British car industry. Because the wooden wheels on early cars had

17550-448: Was fully aware that the means to overcoming cultural resistance depended on an "understanding" of the countries in which a corporation operated. He observed that companies with "foresight to capitalize on international opportunities" must recognize that " cultural anthropology will be an important tool for competitive marketing". However, the projected outcome of this was not the assimilation of international firms into national cultures, but

17685-455: Was granted in 1766 to Richard Ford of England for the first tandem mill. A tandem mill is one in which the metal is rolled in successive stands; Ford's tandem mill was for hot rolling of wire rods. Rolling mills for lead seem to have existed by the late 17th century. Copper and brass were also rolled by the late 18th century. Until well into the eighteenth century, rolling mills derived their power from water wheels . The first recorded use of

17820-820: Was holding discussions to sell its 50% shareholding in AgustaWestland to Finmeccanica. The sale of this stake in exchange for £1 billion ($ 1.79 billion) from Finmeccanica was finalised later that year. In 2002, GKN acquired a significant stake in – and by 2004 took over the whole concern of – the Japanese manufacturer of differentials and driveline torque systems Tochigi Fuji Sangyo K.K, based in Tochigi, Tochigi . GKN went on to acquire Monitor Aerospace Corp in Amityville, New York and Precision Machining in Wellington, Kansas in 2006, part of

17955-546: Was labeled as "the largest nonviolent transfer of wealth in human history." The OPEC sought immediate discussions regarding participation in national oil industries. Companies were not inclined to object as the price hike benefited both them and OPEC members. In 1980, the Seven Sisters were entirely displaced and replaced by national oil companies (NOCs). The rise in oil prices burdened developing countries with balance of payments deficits, leading to an energy crisis. OPEC members had to abandon their plan of redistributing wealth from

18090-489: Was one of the few businessmen in the era who became Prime Minister (of South Africa 1890–1896). His mining enterprises included the British South Africa Company and De Beers . The latter company practically controlled the global diamond market from its base in southern Africa. In 1945, the United States was the world's largest oil producer. However, their reserves were declining due to high demand. Therefore,

18225-452: Was presented as a long-term strategy. In July 2012, GKN agreed to acquire the Swedish aerospace components manufacturer Volvo Aero from AB Volvo for £633 million (US$ 986 million). The takeover was seen as presenting good opportunities for the expansion of Volvo Aero's range of engine component production range via GKN's experience in producing aerostructures. In October 2015, GKN acquired Dutch aerospace company Fokker Technologies through

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