Industry leaders have called for government and industry to work together and help manufacturers respond to the net-zero drive. Speaking at the second annual National Manufacturing Summit, which focused on sustainable production, Manufacturing Technology Centre chief executive Dr Clive Hickman called for a specific funding pot for net-zero manufacturing to ensure that UK industry can realise the innovation and economic opportunities that de-carbonisation offers.

Dr Hickman said the UK’s commitments at COP26 required a rapid, deep and sustained reduction in CO2 emissions: “It will be us, as manufacturers, who make these ambitions a reality. We need a manufacturing strategy to ensure the sector is future-proofed for the decade to come. A funding pot for net-zero manufacturing would give manufacturers the confidence to pilot innovative green technologies and support the commercialisation of these technologies.”

For further information
https://nmsummit.co.uk

Kingsbury, the sole UK sales and service agent for WAAM equipment builder GEFERTEC GmbH, has put together an application example detailing the benefits that additive manufacturing can bring to the manufacture of an Inconel engine blisk. Traditionally, the blisk would be produced from a 72 kg, £3500 forging that would subsequently be milled, adding further expense and time. As a cost-effective and economical alternative, Kingsbury started with a 300 mm diameter Inconel 718 central hub on to which the GEFERTEC machine deposited Inconel 625 in four stages to create a fully printed blisk.

The material and machining cost totalled £1764 and the printed Inconel weighed just 27.8 kg. Overall, the additive process saved 37.5 kg of Inconel during the additive process over the traditional subtractive manufacturing method. The subsequent machining time was consequently shorter than forging, as the material removed during milling of the near-net-shape blank was only about 16 kg, while tooling costs were also proportionally lower.

For further information https://kingsburyuk.com/

Stratasys has partnered with Radford, a global luxury automotive brand, to create over 500 3D-printed parts for the launch of the coach-built Lotus Type 62-2 as shown in the Discovery+ documentary, Radford Returns. The show features car builder and host Ant Anstead and former Formula One driver Jenson Button, and documents the build of the retro-modern Lotus Type 62-2 supercar.
Viewers get an inside look at the 3D-printing process from designing to prototyping, tooling, and finally producing production parts utilising Stratasys FDM, PolyJet and stereolithography 3D printing technologies. To produce the first two cars, over 500 parts were 3D-printed at the Radford Studio, automotive design and engineering firm Aria Group, and Stratasys Direct Manufacturing.

For further information www.stratasys.com/automotive

Business, academic and political leaders in the West Midlands have teamed up in a bid to bring the Government’s new Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) to Birmingham. The new agency will help to cement the UK’s position as a global scientific superpower, while shaping the country’s efforts to build back better through innovation.

Regional leaders, including the Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street, and Dr Clive Hickman, chief executive of the Manufacturing Technology Centre, alongside academic leaders, are calling for the agency to be headquartered at Old Curzon Street Station in Birmingham. Old Curzon Street Station, now the hub of HS2 in the city, was once home to the historic Lunar Society of Birmingham, which helped shape Britain’s scientific, political and social agenda throughout the 18th century.

For further information
www.the-mtc.org

Erodex has a new Sodick AG60L spark erosion machine from Sodi-Tech EDM at its state-of-the-art machining centre in Halesowen. The machine brings vital extra capacity to the facility, which Erodex operates as an R&D manufacturing centre in support of its customers, around 75% of whom serve the aerospace and IGT (industrial gas turbine) sectors.

While Erodex already had a Sodick AQ35L, the company identified a clear need for a second die-sink EDM machine, as head of strategic capabilities Chris Grice explains: “In line with our growth over the past five years we’ve witnessed a requirement for more technical support among our customer base. At Erodex, we can see there’s real added value in providing customers with outsourced expertise.”

The company can of course simply manufacture electrodes to customer drawings, but thanks to its experience in the aerospace and IGT sectors, Erodex has deep knowledge of what customers are trying to achieve with regard to component geometry. As a result, design and production advice from the company is today a pivotal part of its offer and provides important market differentiation.

Erodex refers to its turnkey cost-per-part programme as ‘Application Assist’, an offer that is now even more efficient thanks to the arrival of the Sodick AG60L, which features linear drive technology and a direct link between the drive and control to ensure fast servo response and optimal spark gaps.

“Even though our customer base uses a variety of EDM machines, when it came to extending our capacity we chose another Sodick because of its reliable motion control,” explains Grice. “We get really good repeatability, which is vital in our line of work, particularly when we have multiple parts loaded in a fixture.”

For further information
www.sodi-techedm.co.uk