Press Shop

The press shop is the first stage in making a car. Large coils of sheet metal, weighing up to 35 tonnes, were unrolled and cut into flat pieces on the blanking line, which could produce 35 parts per minute. Pieces then entered the press line, where dies shaped them into body parts, making anything from floors to doors, and everything in between. The largest press could exert 2,000 tonnes of force on metal less than 1mm thick. Cleanliness was essential as even a single hair caught in the process could leave a mark.