THE
QUarterly Issue 10 - July 2014
journal
www.namtec.co.uk
High flying engineers ...break manufacturing barriers with miniature aircraft Page 4 Beckett MIM ‘Start Up of the Year’
Page 7 Xeros scoops two prestigious awards
Page 14 Circling the history of time
The National Metals Technology Centre, University of Sheffield AMRC, Advanced Manufacturing Park, Wallis Way, Catcliffe, Rotherham, S60 5TZ
Page 16 Biomechatronics: manufactured nature
Telephone: +44 (0)114 222 4786 Fax: +44 (0)114 222 7678 Email: info@namtec.co.uk
Page 18 Parallel Machining… offers productivity & quality boost
Introduction
“Our primary aim remains to help small and medium sized manufacturers become more competitive and move into new markets” Welcome to the 10th edition of the Quarterly Journal and the first since I became NAMTEC director.
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
I’m pleased to have joined at a time when we have an exciting opportunity to increase our focus on technology, building on the hard work my predecessor, Dr Alan McLelland, and his team have put in. Our primary aim remains to help small and medium sized manufacturers become more competitive and move into new markets.
HMS Queen Elizabeth
There are plenty of examples of how we can do that, featured in this edition – both through our European Regional Development
Fund financed Direct Company Support Scheme and the events we and the wider AMRC Group have run. That work will continue at our annual conference, at the Queen's Hotel, in Leeds, on Thursday October 16, which this year focuses on advances in net shape manufacturing. The technology has tremendous potential for reducing processing steps and waste, while making it easier to produce and update complex parts, using materials that might otherwise be difficult to process. With speed, cost and quality at the heart of any drive for increased competitiveness it is a technology no manufacturer can afford to ignore, irrespective of size and the markets they operate in. The diversity of British manufacturing is also well represented in this edition, from watch makers and producers of printing inks to manufacturers involved in key defence contracts. They include NAMTEC member Tinsley Bridge, whose partnership with BAE Systems has been acknowledged by the Technology Strategy Board as an example of how smaller companies can provide solutions to key problems for larger companies.
The opportunities for collaboration are also highlighted by BAE Systems’ own work on the rear fuselage and tail section for the F-35 Lightning II multi-role fighter, featured in this issue, and the recent naming ceremony for the UK's largest warship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, which will be able to carry 40 F35Bs. Five hundred British-based companies are involved in the F-35 programme, while more than 100 are involved in building the Queen Elizabeth, led by a unique partnering relationship between BAE Systems, Thales UK, Babcock and the Ministry of Defence. With the recovery in manufacturing strengthening, there has never been a more opportune moment to forge partnerships to solve problems and secure major contracts and to strive to become ever more competitive.
Dr. James Hughes Director AMRC-NAMTEC
Contents Members News
page 3-7
Wintwire targets growth
page 21
General News
page 8-10
Features High flying engineers
Cutting edge performance follows Company Support project
page 22
page 11-13
Circling the history of time
page 14-15
AML - Advanced manufacturer boosts business with quality and improvement initiative
page 23
Biomechatronics: manufactured nature
page 16-17
Event Reviews
page 24-26
Parallel machining
page 18-19
Upcoming Events
page 26
Training Courses
page 27
AMRC-NAMTEC Annual Conference & Dinner 2014
page 28
Company Support ERDF funding opens way for green printing technology breakthrough
page 20
THE
QUarterly journal
The National Metals Technology Centre, University of Sheffield AMRC, Advanced Manufacturing Park, Wallis Way, Catcliffe, Rotherham, S60 5TZ
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The National Metals Technology Centre
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Quarterly Journal
To keep up to date with all the latest news and developments please visit the NAMTEC website at
www.namtec.co.uk
Advertising Enquiries Kirsten Bolton, Marketing Manager Tel: 0114 222 4785 Email: kirsten.bolton@namtec.co.uk
Member News
BAE Systems passes new milestone for F-35 Lightning II production
BAE Systems has dispatched the 150th rear fuselage and tail section for the F-35 Lightning II multi-role fighter, from its military aircraft factory in Samlesbury, Lancashire. The factory started by producing 20 rear fuselage and tail sets for the fighter’s development phase and is now producing one every five days, following a multimillion pound investment at Samlesbury. By 2018, the company expects to be producing one set a day.
Jon Evans, Head of Production Delivery, F-35 at Samlesbury said: “With a potential requirement of 3000-plus aircraft, the scale of this programme is huge. “If we continue as we have done over the past 10 years, not only do we sustain jobs in the long term for our 1000+ workforce,
but we help make a significant contribution to the UK economy through the work created in the 500 British-based companies involved in the programme.”
responsible for producing every rear fuselage and tail set for each of the three variants of the aircraft. It is also producing carrier wing tips for the carrier variant and nozzle bay doors for the short take off and vertical landing variant. BAE Systems is playing a key role in vehicle and mission systems, life support system and prognostics health management integration, while BAE Systems Inc in the US is involved in electronic warfare, advance apertures, advanced counter-measure systems, vehicle management and active inceptor systems.
More than 500 UK companies are involved in the F-35 Lightning II programme, building 15 per cent of each F-35 produced. BAE Systems is
Cummins leads on development of new Stop-Start Technology Global engines group Cummins’ UK arm is leading a consortium to develop eco-friendly engines for a new generation of commercial vehicles, such as buses and delivery lorries, that are frequently stopping and starting. The company has secured £4.9 million from the UK’s innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board, towards the £9.9 million project to improve the fuel efficiency of commercial vehicles and reduce their CO2 emissions.
turbochargers for the medium to heavy-duty diesel engines market.
“For those operations with frequent stop-start duty cycles, such as buses and delivery trucks, there is an opportunity for Cummins and its consortium fuel savings by switching off the colleagues aim to develop a engine when stationary. Present compact diesel electric solutions have limitations, so the propulsion system that will be no funding enables Cummins to Dubbed FIRST - Frequent bigger than a conventional diesel deliver a capable and durable Integrated Soft Stop Start engine and could initially be technology to the market in a Technology - the project is being installed in a bus. timely manner. led by Cummins Ltd and Project leader, Dr Neil Brown, includes its Huddersfield-based “Current low carbon solutions said: “Our customers are subsidiary, Cummins Turbo such as diesel-electric hybrids demanding improved efficiency Technologies, the market-leading are dependent on government from their engines. designer and manufacturer of subsidies due to the long E-mail: info@namtec.co.uk
“…there is an opportunity for fuel savings by switching off the engine when stationary”
payback period. This solution represents a significant opportunity to the wider bus fleet with rapid payback on investment.”
The new engine will be designed to switch off and on rapidly and incorporate technology that can restart the engine with less noise and vibration than a conventional starter.
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Member News
Metal injection moulding pioneer named ‘Start Up of the Year’ Metal injection moulding specialist Beckett MIM has been named 'Start Up of the Year' at a top awards ceremony, celebrating the achievements of healthcare technology and life sciences companies.
The Sheffield-based company secured the accolade at the annual Medilink Awards for Yorkshire and Humber. Beckett MIM was set up by William Beckett Plastics, which makes packaging used by cutting tool manufacturers around the world to protect products ranging from simple drill bits and blades to highly sophisticated milling cutters.
The company worked with the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre on a three year Knowledge Transfer Partnership research programme to develop ways of using machines originally designed to form plastics to make hi-tech aerospace, medical and automotive components. “The techniques for injection moulding titanium and plastic are fundamentally the same,” says
company founder William Beckett. “Powder is mixed with a binder, extruded to form pellets and moulded at a lower temperature than plastic, using the same machine, with a special attachment.
making orthodontic products with micro scale features and ergonomic surgical instruments. Beckett MIM’s technology has been used to solve a number of manufacturing problems, including:
“You have to put the component • Reducing the cost of making an into water to dissolve the binder impeller blade by 55 per cent by and you are left with a porous using metal injection moulding product that you have to sinter in a instead of machining a casting. furnace, where it shrinks in size by • Working with The University of about 20 per cent. Sheffield to develop exterior and “There is no wastage of material, it interior metal injection moulded is far less time consuming aerospace fasteners that weigh because you are moulding not up to 20 per cent less than machining and it allows you to conventional alternatives.
redesign some components to reduce the amount of material.” Beckett MIM now lays claim to being the only company in the UK that is able to make components from titanium, nickel, tungsten, copper and a number of advanced alloys as well as steels, using metal injection moulding. The technology has applications in a range of sectors, including
“The techniques for injection moulding titanium and plastic are fundamentally the same”...
• Making stainless steel pins and bushes used for locating large work pieces in an aggressive production environment, providing extensive mechanical properties and corrosion resistance at a price that is acceptable for a single use product.
Integrating technologies Moves by Autodesk and Delcam to more closely integrate their technologies, has borne its first fruits, following Autodesk's acquisition of the Birmingham-based CAD/CAM software company earlier this year. “Increased
interoperability offers huge benefits to our customers”
Delcam CRISPIN Shoemaker Pro
Autodesk Inventor 2015
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Delcam’s FeatureCAM range of computer aided manufacturing software has been certified for use with Autodesk's Inventor 2015 software for creating 3D digital prototypes used in the design, visualisation and product simulation. FeatureCAM is used to automate processes for milling machines, turning and turn/mill centres, and wire electrical discharge machining.“Increased interoperability offers huge benefits to our customers who use Autodesk Inventor as they can open Inventor parts seamlessly in FeatureCAM, with no loss of data or concerns about translation errors,” said Tom McCollough, Vice President of Development for FeatureCAM.
Delcam FeatureCAM
In addition, Delcam CRISPIN has launched a new version of its Engineer Pro software manufacturing orthopaedic footwear at OT World, the international orthopaedic congress in Leipzig. Delcam CRISPIN is the world’s largest supplier of CADCAM software to the footwear industry and lays claim to being the only supplier able to provide a complete solution for the 3D design and manufacture of lasts, uppers, orthotics and soles for both mass production and the development of orthopaedic and other bespoke footwear.
Member News
Rolls-Royce signs multi-million pound agreement Rolls-Royce has signed an agreement to sell its energy gas turbine and compressor business to Siemens for £785 million.
Rolls-Royce has also signed a 25 year licensing agreement with Siemens worth a further £200 million
Rolls-Royce, CEO, John Rishton, said: “This agreement will give the energy business greater opportunities as part of a much larger energy company and allows Rolls-Royce to concentrate on the areas of business where we can add most value.” Rolls-Royce’s energy gas turbine and compressor business has around 2,400 employees and contributed £871 million of revenue and £72 million of underlying profit in 2013.
The business supplies gas turbines derived from aero engines, compressor systems and related services to customers in oil and gas and power generation. Rolls-Royce has also signed a 25 year licensing agreement with
Siemens worth a further £200 million, which gives the German multinational engineering and electronics conglomerate access to relevant technology for use with gas turbines producing power in the 4 to 85 megawatt range.
More than 4,800 Rolls-Royce aero-derivative gas turbine units have been sold and have recorded more than 180 million operating hours. Key technologies include derivatives of the RB211 aero engine, providing 27 to 44MW of power. Siemens’ energy sector has around 83,500
employees and in 2013 contributed revenue of €26.6 billion and underlying profit of €1.9 billion.
The deal is expected to be completed before the end of December, at which point Rolls-Royce’s shareholding in the Rolls Wood Group (RWG) joint venture, that provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services, will be transferred to Siemens. The transaction excludes some of Rolls-Royce’s smaller power generation sector assets.
Closed-loop solutions for UK advanced manufacturing Fluid Maintenance Solutions (FMS) is a specialist engineering services company with expertise in reducing the cost and impacts of fluids and lubricants in highperformance manufacturing environments. Based at the Advanced Manufacturing Park and with a separate processing facility in Sheffield, FMS is a partner at the AMRC with Boeing and also a member of the MTA.
Solving the long-standing problem of inefficient coolant delivery, FMS launched IFDR Precision Filtration Solutions to the UK market at MACH 2014, which coincided with the commissioning of its patent pending SMR processing plant. The combination of precision filtration, the immediate extraction
of fines and sludge away from the machine tool, coupled with the ability to recycle metal content into or near-to parent alloy status, is a unique closed loop solution. The proven benefits of IFDR solutions helps manufacturers improve productivity and reduce the traditional environmental impacts, maintenance interventions and risks associated with traditional OEM supplied filtration systems. The SMR process, commercialised through a joint venture (JV) with the Fondel Group, recovers and diverts E-mail: info@namtec.co.uk
from landfill, metal rich sludge and grinding fines found at the bottom of machine sump. The process was developed by FMS, with support from the Technology Strategy Board and shortlisted in the Advanced Manufacturing Awards 2012 in Best Health, Safety and Environmental Practise category. The SMR process maximises the yield and value of problematic waste streams which traditionally generate no or low value returns. FMS focuses on helping manufacturers improve productivity, reduce environmental impacts and ultimately contribute to reducing cost per part produced.
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Member News
Innovation
saves lives
the ideas we had were deliverable in a short timescale. It stimulated our appetite for developing new products that would give us a competitive advantage. “We had been looking at the higher volume truck market but the military vehicle project showed if you can apply knowledge and experience to a smaller, specialised market, it can make more financial sense.” The TSB decided to shoot the video to show how linking the capabilities of an SME like Tinsley Bridge with a large multinational company like BAE Systems can rapidly deliver significant technical benefits.
Warrior armoured personnel vehicle
A manufacturer whose innovation saved soldiers’ lives in Afghanistan has had its achievements highlighted by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) in what has become one of the most popular videos on the TSB’s website. The video shows how new high strength torsion bars, developed by Tinsley Bridge, saved lives in strikes by Improvised Explosive Devices – IEDs – while transforming the performance of the Warrior armoured personnel vehicle.
“When the Army changed the weight of its vehicles, the existing suspension couldn’t cope and it was causing problems. Capability was compromised and suspension was failing,” says Tinsley Bridge’s managing director, Mark Webber.
The Sheffield-based suspension expert was approached by Ministry of Defence prime contractor BAE Systems after additional protection increased the vehicle’s weight.
“We suggested using a new high strength material called Extralite that we had been developing for leaf springs. We thought that theoretically it should work on torsion bars, but we’d never made one out of it.”
The Army desperately needed Warrior’s suspension improving, while maintaining mobility and without changing lots of components.
Development and testing – carried out with the help of Sheffield Hallam University and TSB funding – was completed in less
Since the project “We was completed, suggested using a Tinsley Bridge has won two new high strength more research and material called development Extralite that we had grants from the TSB's Smart been developing for scheme, one for leaf springs” theincluding next evolution of
than five months and included extensive field trials, carried out by the Army.
After vehicles with the new torsion bars had been deployed, the Army visited Tinsley Bridge to thank the company. “The officer in charge of the fleet read out quotes from people involved in Improvised Explosive Device incidents in Afghanistan, saying they believed it had saved their lives,” Mark Webber added.
Extralite.“The new material we are working on could allow suspension parts to be 30 per cent lighter,” says Mark Webber, whose family-owned firm has now forged close links with the University of Sheffield and the University of Cambridge, as well as Sheffield Hallam, and is currently researching the potential use of composite materials.
Mr Webber says the company couldn’t have completed the work without TSB funding. “The Technology Strategy Board supported us at a time when we had no work. It also gave us vision about what we could achieve through product innovation,” he says. “It renewed the belief in ourselves and demonstrated that
The recent TSB video has become the fourth most popular video on the TSB web site and can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1kf5jXDxA&feature=youtu.be&a High strength torsion bars
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Member News
Kiveton Park Steel goes global Kiveton Park Steel is doubling the size of its network of overseas agents as part of a plan to boost its international growth. The company, which won a Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2012, currently exports 65 per cent to 70 per cent of what it manufacturers at its South Yorkshire site and has appointed a
new international business development manager as part of its overseas expansion plans. Kiveton Park Steel makes steel bar and products for wire making which are used in the automotive,
aircraft and tooling industries. The firm works predominantly in the automotive industry, exports more than 100 different production lines and now plans to expand into the oil and gas sector.
Sales and marketing director, Michael Jones, said: “The future of the business is about extending our geographical reach and also expanding our products.”
Xeros scoops awards per cent less water, 50 per cent less energy and 50 per cent less detergent than conventional machines. They clean clothes by tumbling them with nylon polymer beads that attract dirt and can be used at least 500 times before they need to be replaced.
installed or to be installed in the US, UK and EU. It expects to install a further 120 machines in the coming year. Xeros is also targeting China. It has also created a prototype domestic bead-cleaning washing
Even then, the beads can be used in plastics plants to make automotive components.
Xeros chief executive officer, Bill Westwater with one of the company’s revolutionary, eco-friendly washing machines
Revolutionary, eco-friendly cleaning system developer Xeros has won two prestigious awards on different sides of the Atlantic in a single evening. The company, which floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) earlier this year, was named University Spin-Out of the Year at the New Energy & Cleantech Awards in London at the same time as it gained a Bronze Award at the Edison Awards 2014 in San Francisco.
Xeros, based at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, is a University of Leeds spin out which has developed washing machines that use reusable and recyclable polymer beads to largely replace water. The machines consume up to 80
The beads work by gently agitating soil and stains from textile surfaces and provide numerous benefits, such as preventing excessive folding of clothes and lessening the possibility of them creasing, by acting as a buffer. Xeros chief executive officer, Bill Westwater, said: “Our polymer bead cleaning systems have the potential to transform a number of industries globally. Within the commercial laundry sector, not only do our systems create cost savings and reduce an organisation’s environmental impact, they also deliver superior cleaning.” At the time of its AIM floatation, in March, Xeros announced it had 30 of its commercial machines either E-mail: info@namtec.co.uk
A Xeros washing machine in action
machine and is developing its systems for use in the leather processing industry and for other applications. Xeros won its Bronze Edison Award in the Energy/Sustainability category. In addition to its University SpinOut of the Year Award, the company has been shortlisted in the Innovation of the Year category of the BusinessGreen Leaders Award and a Northern Tech Rising Star Award.
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General News
Green
energy
ITM Power’s installation at Thüga Group’s site in Frankfurt
A green energy project, using cutting edge ‘Power-to-Gas’ technology, developed in the UK, has been officially launched in Germany. The project uses a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyser developed by Sheffield-based ITM Power. It is powered by electricity from renewable sources like wind power to split water down to oxygen, which is released into the atmosphere, and hydrogen which is injected directly into the gas mains. ITM’s technology is at the heart of a power-to-gas plant built by Thüga Group, the largest network of energy companies in Germany. At present, the hydrogen is being injected into the gas supply to Germany's financial capital Frankfurt.
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sale into the German utility market and delighted to have taken part in this impressive inauguration event, which has
The volume of hydrogen that can be fed into the mains is limited to avoid the need to convert appliances, however, Thüga plans to expand the pilot plant in 2016 and start converting hydrogen into methane, unlimited amounts of which could be injected into the gas mains.
ITM Power’s Proton Exchange Membrane electrolyser at Thüga Group’s site in Frankfurt
ITM's technology is seen as a key answer to criticisms centring on the availability of wind and solar power as it allows electricity generated when demand is low to be ‘stored’ as hydrogen. Research by Thüga suggests Germany could face a demand for storage of up to 17 terawatt hours (TWh) by 2020, and reach 50 TWh by 2050. The company says Germany’s municipal gas distribution network could easily absorb that amount of energy.
Left: ITM Power’s Phil Doran
“Our gas distribution network could thus be the battery of the future,” says Thüga board member, Michael Riechel.
received wide-spread press coverage in Germany, not least owing to the presence of a number of high-profile politicians lending their support.
Phil Doran, managing director of ITM Power's German subsidiary, said: “We are proud to have completed our first significant
“The event has further raised the profile of ITM Power in Germany and marks the next stage of our development.”
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“ITM’s technology is at the heart of a power-to-gas plant built by Thüga Group, the largest network of energy companies in Germany.”
General News
High-performance magnesium alloy developer and producer Magnesium Elektron has scored an aviation first with its Elektron® 43 alloy.
Shale gas
residents and community representatives at every stage of the process.
Independent energy company Cuadrilla Resources is continuing to consult with residents on plans to explore for shale gas at two sites in the Fylde peninsular in Lancashire.
“We announced in February the proposed locations for two new exploration sites in the Fylde as part of our work to understand the full potential of Lancashire’s shale gas resources. We’re currently speaking with local communities about our proposed new exploration sites and are listening to people’s feedback on our proposals.
consultation
Following the consultation, Cuadrilla intends to apply for planning permission to drill, hydraulically fracture and test the flow of gas from up to four exploration wells at each of the Roseacre Wood and Preston New Road sites. Cuadrilla’s chief executive, Francis Egan, said: “Cuadrilla is committed to being a good neighbour and to talking to local
“We have received many comments from local people through the consultation events we have run, via our website and direct correspondence. Through the Community Liaison Groups, publications and other meetings and methods, we will continue to engage with local residents to listen and continue to explain our proposals.” As part of the consultation process, planning and environmental consultants at Arup have produced two new brochures detailing the emerging findings of the Environmental Impact Assessments that will accompany planning applications for the sites.
German aerospace seating manufacturer ZIM FLUGSITZ has started using the alloy to make structural components for seats. Seats made using Elektron® 43 are significantly lighter than those made from commonly used aluminium alloys, while still offering the necessary strength and ductility. The first of these new seats will enter service later in 2014 in a low-volume non-commercial aviation platform. ZIM FLUGSITZ Vice President for Research and Development, Uwe Salzer, said: “There is always a need for weight reduction, and magnesium can be a solution for certain components.”
Steve Montisci, European Technical Sales Manager, Wrought Products, for Magnesium Elektron, said: “The use of our Elektron® 43 magnesium alloy has enabled ZIM FLUGSITZ to surpass their weight-reduction targets and improve the fuel efficiency and endurance in this new application. “They are the first to realise the weight-saving benefits of magnesium for this type of application, and we have enjoyed working with them to achieve this milestone.”
Nuclear renaissance
Britain needs to boost its nuclear energy research and training capabilities if it is to make the most of the nuclear renaissance. So says Dr Mike Bluck, from Imperial College London and Rolls-Royce Nuclear University Technology Centre.
But, without highly skilled and trained experts with a global vision and international outlook for the UK's nuclear industry, regulators, Government and academia, the UK won't stand a real chance of securing a place at the heart of future nuclear growth.
Writing in Materials World, Dr Bluck highlights a number of encouraging developments, including the collaboration between the Universities of Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Lancaster to create a next generation nuclear Centre for Doctoral Training.
Cuadrilla shale gas site E-mail: info@namtec.co.uk
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General News
Significant UK opportunities on the horizon Major UK infrastructure projects are creating significant opportunities for Britain’s manufacturers, according to University of Sheffield Vice Chancellor Sir Keith Burnett.
Artist impression of West Cumbria's Moorside nuclear project
Sir Keith cites plans to build a new generation of civil nuclear power stations and the HS2 High Speed Rail development programme as examples of projects that indigenous industry should capitalise on. Speaking at the Cutlers’ Feast, in Sheffield, Sir Keith said opportunities could be even greater if some of the £60 billion planned investment in nuclear power plants went into the development of Small Modular Reactor - or SMR – technology. Sir Keith, an adviser to Her Majesty’s Treasury on infrastructure, was speaking to an audience comprising manufacturers, financiers,
politicians and top decision makers attending the Feast.
another dawn for science and engineering, another new era.
The event is one of the leading Livery Company events outside London, staged each year by the Company of Cutlers’ in Hallamshire, which has been a voice for manufacturing for almost four centuries.
“The question now is whether the UK has any part to play in this beyond purchasing technologies from overseas funded by borrowing from an emerging superpower in the form of China.”
He told guests, including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg: “In 2014, the search for low-carbon sources of fuel and a desire to reduce over-reliance on overseas suppliers mean that politicians of all parties are once again talking about the importance of civil nuclear energy to the United Kingdom.
Sir Keith urged the UK to take “the next great steps in manufacturing” by launching an industry-led university with Royal College status.
“With it comes the possibility of
“With it comes the possibility of another dawn for Science and Engineering, another new era”
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A Manufacturing Institute of Technology with Royal College status would help to create a much-needed new generation of elite apprentices.
University of Sheffield Vice Chancellor Sir Keith Burnett
They would train in the context of the very latest research and high value manufacturing, increasing the skills of the companies they worked for and help the sector cast off its erroneous low skills image. And, they would go on to become producers and innovators who understood the power of intellectual property and commercial practice. “Our young people want us to do this, but so do companies and our politicians, for we know it would be wrong to produce only high quality metals, engines and reactors; we must also produce people and talent,” he said.
Features
High flying engineers break manufacturing barriers with miniature aircraft
A project to develop a low cost radio-controlled flyer that could be used for a wide range of applications has resulted in a series of breakthroughs in design and 3D printing. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), weighing just 2kg and with a 1.5 metre wingspan, is the brainchild of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre’s new Design & Prototyping Group (DPG).
Development Team with UAV
AMRC’s UAV flying high over the Peak District in Derbyshire
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Features
The entire airframe is made from just nine parts, all of which are made on the FDM machine. Andy Bell of the DPG launching the UAV over the Peak District
“The project not only achieved its aims but has exceeded all expectations, leading to the development of new techniques”
The UAV was developed to showcase the group’s skills and technological capabilities – particularly for helping small and medium sized manufacturers to develop new products and move into new markets. The project not only achieved its aims but has exceeded all expectations, leading to the development of new techniques that have radically reduced the time, the amount of materials and the cost of manufacturing components using 3D printing technology. It even surprised machine manufacturers who had not thought their equipment capable of some of the things it has now done in the hands of the DPG’s engineers. Project engineer John Mann chose a 'Blended Wing' design, with a cross section that tapers away from the centre to the wing tips, because it offered better aerodynamics and flexibility for future development. The project allowed the group to
show how it could combine Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software to create a design process to manipulate complex surfaces and internal structures.
characteristics to raise the efficiency and reduce the drag of the UAV as much as possible. “It's been a really great project,” said Sam Bull. “The first time it flew it was a wonderful feeling.” A number of manufacturing options were explored at the start of the project, including using stereolithography and selective laser sintering.
Group members went on to extend that process so that it could be tailored to designing for the new generation of Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) machines.
The designers chose FDM technology because it meant a lower initial investment, involved a simpler process and offered reduced material costs.
CFD was used to optimise the design of the prototype – a slope soaring glider which can be launched by hand or catapult and could remain aloft forever, given the right weather conditions.
One of the big challenges was to work out how to support the aerodynamically shaped wing section while it is built up from layers of ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) thermoplastic, deposited by the DPG’s Stratasys Fortus 900mc FDM machine.
Project engineer Sam Bull analysed lift, drag, pitching moment and other
The UAV's airframe narrows
towards the wing tips, which overhang the central section during manufacturing and would conventionally need to be supported by structures built up from a different material that would then have to be removed. The DPG’s full production FDM machine incorporates two nozzles, one to deposit the ABS material used to make the component and the other to deposit the support material. However, depositing support material drastically slowed the process, so John Mann and Sam Bull, together with additive manufacture development engineer Mark Cocking, developed a way to build the overhanging section without using any support material at all. “The machine’s manufacturers told us it wouldn’t do what we
“Thanks to their pioneering work, the time taken to build one of the UAV’s main 12
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Features
The future UAV Powered flight, the addition of payloads including High Definition cameras and sensors and systems that change the direction of flight by physically changing the shape of the wing could be among future developments for the AMRC Design & Prototyping Group's new UAV. “The airframe is currently being optimised further, to incorporate blended winglets and twin, ducted fan propulsion,” says DPG senior design engineer, Dr Garth Nicholson, who oversaw the project. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to optimise the chosen design and to assess the lift, drag, pitching moment and other characteristics over a range of angles of incidence
Future planned developments include full, on-board data logging of flight parameters, autonomous operation by GPS, and control by surface morphing technology. “Concepts for novel ducted fan designs are also being investigated,” adds Dr Nicholson. Having shown how to make savings by optimising the design and manufacture of relatively large, thin walled parts from ABS, using the FDM process, without the need to build support structures, the team has moved on to using nylon instead of ABS. “Nylon is much better from a practical point of view because it is tougher and has better impact resistance, but it is more difficult to build, and we needed to change a few things with the shape to improve its performance in flight,” says John Mann.
wanted it to do, but we made it work,” said John Mann. Thanks to the DPG team’'s work, it is now possible to build components with sections that are up to 45 degrees off centre. The team has gone even further but says the quality deteriorates as you near that limit.
Two ‘elevons’ - surfaces that combine the functions of an elevator, which controls pitch, and an aileron, which controls roll - are secured by two ‘tip fences’. These are small vertical components on the end of the
Design engineers believe their UAV could reach speeds of up to 60 miles an hour, using miniature ducted fan engines and say adding a payload, like a video or HD camera and sensors, presents no problems. What’s more, their design is scalable, so larger UAVs could be built, if necessary.
Demand
Thanks to their pioneering work, the time taken to build one of the UAV’s main sections has been cut from 55 hours to five hours.
sky
“All parts required for the airframe can be combined into a single build within the DPG’'s Fortus 900 machine taking less than 24 hours. Before design for additive manufacture optimisation, this airframe would have taken over 120 hours to produce,” said Mark Cocking. The entire airframe is made from just nine parts, all of which are made on the FDM machine. The two wings are joined together on either side of a central spine, by two spars, without the need for additional fixings.
rockets
Demand for small scale UAVs, like the 1.5 metre, 2kg flyer being developed by the AMRC’s Design & Prototyping Group, is growing fast. wings which help to reduce drag, while increasing stability. The elevons are controlled by servos, fixed onto mounting spigots in the rear of the body, which also holds the radio control receiver and battery.
Potential users range from hobbyists to aerial videographers and photographers, map makers, surveyors, meteorologists and humanitarian aid agencies, as well as for security surveillance. Although the Design & Prototyping Group's UAV was developed entirely independently from any aerospace company, it is known that a number of leading companies have their own UAV programmes.
sections has been cut from 55 hours to five hours” E-mail: info@namtec.co.uk
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Features
Circling
Rear view of the Bremont Boeing Model 247 chronograph watch
the history of
time
A chronometer is a timepiece with a unique mechanism for ensuring and adjusting its accuracy. They are traditionally used in determining longitude at sea or for any purpose where an exact measurement of time is required. The first accurate chronometer was developed in Britain in 1735, however technology has advanced a long way since then. After a long period of time, when much of the manufacturing of chronometers was Harrison H1 undertaken abroad, there is a sense of pride knowing that the manufacture of high quality chronometers is once again happening in Britain, where exotic materials and innovative machinery are being developed and utilised.
John Harrison revolutionised navigation with his first marine chronometer, developed in 1735
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Marine chronometers were of great importance in the Eighteenth century. The motivation to develop this technology originated due to incidents occurring at sea, where sailors couldn’t accurately calculate a ships longitudinal (west and east) position. An encouraging reward of £20,000 was being offered by the British Government in 1713, for the discovery of the best method to determine longitude accurately. There was a requirement for a clock that would be accurate over long time intervals, function on a moving ship at high seas, and perform without being affected by pressure, humidity and temperature. John Harrison, a Yorkshire man, revolutionised navigation with his
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first marine chronometer, developed in 1735. From his his four designs, Harrison went on to invent accurate timepieces measuring within an error of only 39.2 seconds over a voyage of 47 days.
H1 and H2 Harrisons’ original chronometers, the H1 and H2, attained a simplistic design of a counterbalancing pendulum clock. Built of brass, the clock included spring driven wheels made from wood, and roller pinions. The creative mechanism was the 'grasshopper' escapement, which gives the clock’s pendulum periodic
pushes to keep it swinging. Every swing will move the clock’s gear forward, and in turn, the clock’s hand.
H3 and H4 Two innovative devices to have been derived from the H3 are commonly used in today's chronometers; the bi-metallic strip and the caged roller bearing. The bi-metallic strip combats the effects of temperature, while roller
Features
bearings provide anti-friction surfaces. Although impressive, the large machines were abandoned due to their size and inaccuracy, which then led Harrison to develop the smaller pocket watch (H4). Developed in 1761, the H4 design used a fast beating balance wheel controlled by a temperature compensated spiral spring. The pocket watch weighed 3.2 pounds, was 5.2 inches in diameter, and proved successful on two trial voyages to Jamaica and Barbados. Although these features met the specific criteria for the Longitude Prize, Harrison was left unjust and never received the full reward. He did, however leave a lasting legacy as his watch established the foundation for all subsequent chronometer developments. With its historical innovation in chronometers and watch making, Britain founded a number of world leading watch
Today, with one eye in the past and the other to the future, high-tech British companies are trying to re-establish their place at the forefront of manufacturing high quality premium wrist watches. Aviation and engineering enthusiasts Nick and Giles English founded Bremont in 2002 and are aiming to recapture this market. With production facilities based in Oxfordshire, Bremont is known for using the best available materials and most tried and tested techniques to create timepieces inspired mainly by the aviation industry. In tribute to John Harrison’s legacy they have also produced a marine chronometer.
Bremont are known to utilise the best available materials and most tried and tested techniques…
Similar to those which met the requirement from the British government in 1713, these chronometers have been designed to endure the harshest of environments, whilst
Harrison H4
Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
companies. However, over the next 150 years, it began to lose its manufacturing base in this area. The most famous example is that of Rolex. Established within London in 1905, Rolex manufactured their timepieces in Geneva, providing Switzerland with a reputable name for creating watches with exceptional properties.
remaining accurate and durable when worn by professional adventurers and explorers during deep-sea exploration and flying. In an innovative partnership with the world famous aerospace manufacturer - Boeing, Bremont have gone one step further in evaluating methods and materials suitable for manufacturing high precision,
Bremont Boeing Model 1 watch
durable, and high end quality components with the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC). This can be recognised in the new designs, which use Custom 465® Stainless Steel (a new steel developed at the AMRC) that is harder and more scratch and corrosion resistant. Given its properties, this metal is primarily used in undercarriages of jumbo jets. Boeing aviation grade Ti-64 titanium is also being incorporated into the watch case. Being exposed to the advanced techniques within the AMRC, Bremont is in the process of evaluating equipment that will allow it to maintain its competitive edge. An example would be that of a precision based five and six axis CNC milling technology, which allows for a wide range of cutting operations in difficult to cut alloys such as titanium or aerospace grade steel. Given Britain’s history of pioneering the development of accurate and robust chronometers, it is a proud moment for the country to once again be considered to be a world leader in manufacturing mechanical timepieces. In the words of Adrian Allen, Commercial Director of the AMRC, “Manufacturing matters; it’s what made Britain great.” E-mail: info@namtec.co.uk
TSB funding for a next generation inspired Longitude Award Three hundred years on and John Harrison’s legacy continues to inspire the country, through the launch of the Longitude Prize 2014. Nesta, in partnership with the Technology Strategy Board, offered £10 million towards finding a solution to one of the biggest humanitarian problems facing the world in the 21st century. Following public consultation, it was decided to target research aimed at creating a cost-effective, accurate, rapid, and easy-to-use test for bacterial infections that will allow health professionals worldwide to administer the right drugs at the right time and stem the rise in resistance to antibiotics. Researchers seeking the Prize will be invited to make submissions in the autumn. For further information, refer to the link: www.longitudeprize.org
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Features Festo Bionic Handling Assistant
Bio-mechatronics brings together mechanics, electronics, robotics and biological organisms
Biomechatronics:
nature Researchers and industries are increasingly learning from nature, using a process known as “biomimetics” to develop commercial applications that mimic what they have discovered. Examples include the leaf of the lotus plant, which has a surface that water droplets simply roll off. The lotus leaf’s ability has been copied to create hydrophobic coatings that can be used in the aerospace sector to prevent ice droplets building up on aircraft while they are flying.
Exoskeleton human universal load carrier
The lotus leaf’s ability has been copied to create hydrophobic coatings that can be used in aerospace
Natural developments are being built upon to create manufacturing technologies too, leading to the development of an interdisciplinary discipline, dubbed ‘Bio-mechatronics.’ Bio-mechatronics brings together mechanics, electronics, robotics and biological organisms. The most commonly recognised bio-mechatronic devices are the exoskeletons, which are being developed as medical devices to enhance the quality of life of people suffering from disabilities. In nature, exoskeletons are outer shells protecting insects like grasshoppers or crustaceans like lobsters. In the case of humans they offer mobility and independence to people with spinal cord injuries who are paralysed from the waist down, while also protecting immobile parts of the body from deteriorating over time. Exoskeletons have moved from medicine to manufacturing, making their way into factories, helping workers involved in repetitive and heavy lifting procedures and enabling heavy tools to be moved as if they were weightless when riveting,
Bionic Learning Network
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Marecki running exoskeleton
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Features Festo SmartBird
drilling, grinding, soldering, assembly and welding. Mechatronic exoskeletons – exoskeletons with control systems - have yet to make their way into manufacturing, although the Perceptual Robotics Laboratory (PERCRO) in Italy has developed an exoskeleton that provides superhuman performance. The ‘Body Extender’ can lift a panel, rotate it and move it so that it reaches the right position, which is ideal when assembling complex parts where flexibility and strength is necessary.
Exoskeleton
Alongside this, the exoskeleton can be utilised under other conditions, such as crisis scenarios, where there is a need for the machine to carry and rescue victims in extreme conditions. Incorporating electric motors to activate 22 points of movement, this exoskeleton can make the same intricate movement as a human, but can apply forces 10 times greater than its operator, lifting weights of 110lbs in its hands and throwing heavy items further than its operator could achieve. Similar exoskeletons have been developed in the military and defence sectors by companies such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. In addition to developing exoskeletons that mimic human
movement, a number of companies and research organisations are looking at using advanced manufacturing devices based on animal biology. One of the best examples of this adaptive biological engineering is the Bionic Learning Network; a collaboration between the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA), Festo Ltd and other research institutes and development companies, to learn from nature and investigate how to apply these mechanisms
as control processes. The movable handling system has been designed to interact with humans (human-machine cooperation) via speech and image recognition, in order to create a hazard free environment and avoid collisions. There is potential for this technology to be used in complex factory floor assembly lines, where grippers are required to handle objects of various shapes, sizes and textures. Alternatively, the handling system can be used as a ‘third arm’ or a real assistant.
As demonstrated, the world of engineering can learn from nature by understanding how biological systems adapt to their environment and apply these mechanisms to industrial use. By examining natural phenomena, there is potential for factory based robots to be optimised in performance and the opportunity to develop the next generation products using these principles.
Festo AquaPenguin
to product design and development for industrial practice. By merging the principles of mechanical, computer, electrical and industrial engineering, they have developed a range of products that address challenges for factory and process automation. The Bionic Handling Assistant is an example inspired by an elephant’s trunk. All of the elephant’s natural movements were translated into mechanical parts with motion sensors to control and monitor the system. Fabricated using additive manufacturing technology, the robot consists of adaptive grippers that are flexible and can hold, move and position goods of various shapes and textures including delicate parts as well
PERCRO 'Body Extender' exoskeleton
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Features
PARALLEL MACHINING ...offers productivity and quality boost says research team Machining using two cutting tools at the same time more than doubles productivity, while improving quality and capability of processes, according to award-winning researchers. The team, from the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing, has been carrying out in depth research into a technique known as parallel - or simultaneous – machining. Members of the Process Technology Group’s, Machining Dynamics Technology Team found that using two tools on opposite sides of a workpiece at the same time, reduced cycle times and offered the potential for increased material removal rates when turning, milling and boring.
Conventional turning technology uses a single tool, but at least one leading UK-based global manufacturer is said to be using parallel turning in production due to the advantages it offers. Tools with more than one cutting insert have been used in boring processes for some years, but the AMRC researchers, led by Dr Erdem Ozturk, believe there has been little technical development in modelling and understanding the dynamics of the process. Meanwhile, one machine tool
What’s more, choosing the right process parameters, while sharing and balancing the load between the tools, increased process capabilities. The capability increase is especially important for machining flexible workpieces which can be a very challenging task if only one cutting tool is used. For example, parallel turning and boring make it possible to machine long flexible shafts to tight tolerances. Similarly, parallel milling allows thin walled parts to be made to tight tolerances productively.
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manufacturer – Mori Seiki – has developed what it describes as “pinch milling” technology for milling the top and bottom of long, slender workpieces like turbine blades.
Gibbons and Dr Sam Turner, set out to fill those gaps, researching, developing and documenting processing methods using a number of materials and demonstrating the productivity benefits of parallel machining.
Understanding the effects of using more than one tool has been limited overall however, They have also been creating and, until the AMRC team models that can be used to launched its research into the simulate and optimise dynamics of parallel machining, processing methods and what knowledge there was about parameters, with the aim of set up, speeds, techniques and replacing the largely trial and the applicability of parallel error techniques that have machining for different materials proliferated so far. had been based on trial and error. Parallel turning Dr Ozturk and his colleagues, Omer Ozkirimli, Thomas
Parallel machining process model
Illustration of parallel turning
Closed loop dynamic interaction between cutting forces and chip thickness values on cutting tools
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Waves on the machined surface due to vibrations
Features Left to right: Omer Ozkirimli & Dr Erdem Ozturk
Composite machining
...using two tools on opposite sides of a workpiece at the same time, reduced cycle times and offered the potential for increased material removal rates Dr Ozturk says that once commercial organisations find a good working solution, they tend to stick with it, but a scientific approach has shown it is possible to increase productivity further. While the team quotes improvements in productivity of at least 100 per cent for parallel turning, it has seen improvements of 300 per cent in specific cases.
to the ones obtained with milling and turning. Using two inserts in a boring process provides additional support to the workpiece and reduces any tendency for the workpiece to bend along its length. In addition to machining the same surface, using one tool for roughing, while the other semi finishes the inside of the bore can reduce cycle times.
Meanwhile, further research into parallel turning and boring could The researchers’ studies of expand both the range of parallel milling showed increases materials and the length of in productivity of more than 150 workpieces which can be turned percent and, while investigations or bored out. of parallel boring are still At the same time, the team is continuing, signs are that potential benefits will be similar looking to collaborate with a
Parallel milling
machine tool company on developing the next generation of mill-turn platforms that will be capable of parallel milling. These machines will have spindles with high torque and power capabilities which can both move in three axes for more general machining applications. The team is also actively looking for funding to apply robotic technology to solve issues caused by the kinematical constraints of current parallel milling machines. Robots are very flexible in terms of their kinematics and working envelope, making them suitable for machining large parts. On the other hand, they are structurally more flexible than machine tools, which can mean cutting forces cause excessive deformation of the tools. The development of new optical displacement sensors offers an opportunity to
develop adaptive techniques to compensate for any deformation and allow parallel milling technology to be applied to large flexible parts, using two robots as milling platforms. A poster (see above) designed by the Machining Dynamics Technology Team to explain its work on parallel machining won first prize in a Royal Academy of Engineering competition earlier this year. The team beat more than 20 finalists, showcasing cutting-edge research by postgraduates and young staff from universities across the North of England.
Parallel boring
Parallel milling experiment set-up
Parallel tools(2 tools) vs single tool: with two tools chatter vibrations are avoided Illustration of the process with 3 inserts
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Company Support
Case study
ERDF funding opens way for green printing technology breakthrough An award-winning exporter of technologically advanced materials for the printing industry is targeting new growth opportunities. Diamond Dispersions makes concentrated pigments and dyes for hi-tech ink jet printers that print on everything from paper to textiles and ceramics. The company sought support from the Centre’s (NAMTEC) European Regional Development Fund financed Direct Company Support Scheme after identifying inks that are cured by ultra-violet light as the next breakthrough in ink technology. UV-curable inkjet technology is reckoned to be the fastest growing technology in the wide format digital printing market.
The technology can be used to produce high quality images, faster and at lower costs, improving productivity, while reducing waste. It also avoids the environmental impact of using solvent-based inks, since UV-curable inks dry the instant they are cured, with all the material providing colouration and no evaporation. UV-curable inks can also be printed directly onto rigid
materials, eliminating the current practice of printing on a flexible medium and sticking that to a rigid background, reducing waste and increasing the opportunity for recycling. The Direct Company Support Scheme financed key research by Harriton Services, the Lincolnshire-based materials and commercial consultancy. Harriton evaluated the latest technology that could be used to make UV-curable ink dispersions and whether Diamond Dispersions’ existing premises would bear the load of a new production plant. When their research called that into doubt, Harriton went on to examine prospects for contracting out production, with the help of Bristol-based inks and coatings development, testing and evaluation specialist PSP Technical Services. PSP established that dispersions could be created from a range of acrylates, examined colour development and concluded
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“The support of NAMTEC has enabled us to take the next step in our business development” there would be no potential problems when they were processed to the standards required for ink jet printers. A range of UV dispersions is currently being tested by Diamond Dispersions and, as part of the Direct Company Support assistance the company received, PSP evaluated several potential acrylate suppliers, confirming that they could mill cyan and magenta acrylates to achieve the level of viscosity and dispersion required. Diamond Dispersions Director, Sue Wright, said: “The support of NAMTEC has enabled us to take the next step in our business development and pursue with real confidence new opportunities for growth.”
Company Support
Case study
Wintwire targets growth Wire manufacturer Wintwire is targeting growth, following a detailed rethink of production systems and controls that has enabled it to compete with lower cost rivals.
The company, from Oxspring Wire Mills, near Barnsley, makes speciality wire products in a range of shapes, including complex profiles made to customers’ specific requirements. Wintwire believes it can process most malleable metals, including carbon, alloy and stainless steels, brass, copper and other non-ferrous metals, such as aluminium, gold, silver and platinum. After growing steadily in recent years, Wintwire has been facing an increasingly competitive environment. Despite good levels of machinery availability, it recognised service levels and competitiveness were being undermined by production errors and the high quality costs, while capacity planning and scheduling problems were also hitting its business.
Wintwire saw it had to increase operational effectiveness and efficiency, while ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction if it was to safeguard sales and grow. Now, with the help of consultants Brook Corporate Developments and the National Metals Technology Centre’s European Regional Development Funded Direct Company Support Scheme, the company has achieved just that. “This project has made a real difference to our efficiency and competitiveness and given us the real potential to grow sales,” says Wintwire’s Managing Director, Marc Turner.
“This project has made a real difference to our efficiency and competitiveness and given us the real potential to grow sales”
New routines have allowed senior management to measure Brook worked with shop floor performance, through employees and back-room to delivery, and develop a production staff to identify factors culture of continuous affecting the output of each of improvement. Wintwire’s machines. Lean techniques have helped The consultants developed a reduce work in progress and model that enabled the firm to optimise production, while new make the right decisions about processes to manage machine production routes, lead times dies, die life and refurbishment and how best to use staff time to are helping to control costs and guarantee customers get the maintain maximum availability. products they need when they New systems also ensure need them. E-mail: info@namtec.co.uk
Wintwire’s 24 employees are fully aware of Key Performance Indicators, targets and other information underpinning the company’s strategy and objectives. Capacity planning and improved efficiencies are enabling the business to compete with lower cost rivals, safeguarding jobs and establishing firm foundations for increased sales, opening the way to the creation of new jobs.
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Company Support
Case study
Cutting edge performance follows Company Support project International oil and gas drilling industry supplier Cutting & Wear has made significant improvements to its engineering and delivery performance, with help from consultants Director Resources.
Cutting & Wear employs 75 people, making products ranging from hardfacing consumables to complete tool assemblies for directional drilling, used to explore for oil and gas As part of a move to a purposebuilt facility in Ecclesfield, South Yorkshire, the company decided to seek ways to boost performance and make the most of new opportunities in its markets. Cutting & Wear sought advice from Director Resources with backing from the European
Regional Development Fundfinanced Direct Company Support Scheme, administered by the National Metals Technology Centre (NAMTEC). As a result, Cutting & Wear's engineering efficiency has risen from 60 per cent to 80 per cent and is continuing to improve.
“Director Resources has provided us with systems and enthusiasm to visualise where we wanted to go, along with the tools and techniques to get there,” said Cutting & Wear’s managing director, Mark Russell. “Since the project started, we can clearly see real change and have a plan and an appetite to succeed.”
The company has also improved its record for fulfilling orders on A series of development time and in full by 80 per cent workshops, led by Director and has reduced the Resources Managing proportion of overdue Director, Dave orders to just three “Cutting Roberts, helped per cent. & Wear's Cutting & Wear's engineering efficiency senior directors to develop their has risen from vision for the 60% to 80% and is company, and introduce the continuing to strategies needed improve” to achieve it. Meanwhile, Director Resources business improvement specialist Paul Cook carried out a root and branch review of manufacturing processes, based on Lean Manufacturing principles. As a result, Cutting & Wear invested £50,000 in a major upgrade of its Enterprise
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Resource Planning software, which has led to greater efficiency and improved customer service. Further improvements resulted from introducing 5S workplace organisation principles, combined with training. Lean workshops involving multidisciplinary groups have reduced waste, improve processes, cut costs and boosted customer service. In one part of Cutting & Wear's operations, the workshops delivered record outputs while also reducing costs Thanks to Director Resources' advice, Cutting & Wear has achieved world class performance standards that are set to boost Gross Value Added (GVA) by £1 million and created a culture of continuous improvement that will sustain the current business and safeguard the jobs of its 75 employees.
Company Support
Case study
AML - Advanced manufacturer boosts business with quality and improvement initiative An advanced manufacturer, making complex components from challenging materials, is going for growth after meeting a tough, new quality challenge, cutting defects and boosting delivery performance. Advanced Manufacturing (AML) specialises in using advanced machining techniques to make complex parts for research and development projects, prototypes and low volume products.
Much of AML’s work involves developing low cost, advanced machining solutions for processing hard metals like titanium, nickel alloys and hard steels. Customers include global giants such as Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Bombardier and Siemens. Rapid growth in aerospace contracts resulted in AML, a spin out from the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), deciding to introduce formal quality management systems. At the same time, the company was being encouraged by one major client to secure the benefits of taking part in the Supply Chains for the 21st Century (SC21) improvement programme. SC21 is an initiative led by ADS, the trade organisation for the UK aerospace, security, space and defence industries, designed to increase the performance of suppliers and their supply chains. It aims to boost customer engagement, manufacturing and business excellence, create a
culture of continuous improvement and gain industry recognition for companies that gain the SC21 Award. AML sought assistance for its quality and improvement initiative from the National Metals Technology Centre's European Regional Development Fund financed Direct Company Support Scheme. Backing from the Scheme led to specialist consultant ICE Partnership being appointed to coach AML through the SC21 diagnostics so that in the next 12 months AML can become one of just 160 of the 650 aspiring companies to have achieved an SC21 Award. During the SC21 process AML has cut defects by 60 per cent and boosted delivery performance – no mean achievement for a company whose work involves making prototypes for clients who can often change product definitions during manufacturing. External auditors praised AML for the initiative it has taken to make in depth best practice part of the business as a whole and not simply production areas, SC21 is particularly effective at defining what demanding customers expect from an excellent supplier.
Thanks to its achievements, AML is experiencing significant growth, is set to increase machining capacity by 40 per cent and plans to introduce dedicated production areas.
…in the next 12 months AML can become one of just 160 of the 650 aspiring companies to have achieved an SC21 Award.
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Event Reviews
Event Reviews Advances in Forging and Forming Mid Yorkshire Golf Club, Pontefract 20th March New forging and forming technologies and advances in simulation could be the key to combating increasing foreign competition from countries such as Indian and China, according to leading experts in the field. More than 50 delegates attended the daylong conference on Advances in Forging and Forming, organised by NAMTEC.
Companies that wanted to remain at the forefront of the field needed to learn from competing technologies and experience with competing materials as well as from competing markets. Instead of seeing them as a threat, they should be embraced as opportunities to grow. Dr Dickinson cited rotary forging as one example of a process that offered a number of important advantages, including shorter cycle times, better mechanical properties and less waste of material, while using more cost effective tooling. Although rotary forging technology had been developed, it was not being taken up by UK manufacturers because it was less well understood and developed than conventional technology. The AFRC was currently investigating the technology, identifying potential uses and looking at ways of bridging the gap between research and commercialisation of the technology so that it could be more widely used in industry. Meanwhile, Dr Halliday encouraged companies to engage with top research centres like the AFRC and the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) in South Yorkshire.
James Farrar, principal engineer for process modelling, Wilde Analysis
They heard about some of the latest technological advances and how they could strengthen the UK’s position in the global market, making the country one of the technological leaders in the field.
He told delegates that environmental demands meant that technological advances needed to be made to a substantial number of components for gas turbines, such as compressor aerofoils and wide chord fan blades, which were either forged or formed from metals. Dr Halliday outlined developments by Rolls-Royce to extend the life of dies used in precision forging. Rolls-Royce was studying established forging techniques in a
Speakers included Dr Mike Dickinson, from the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), Rolls-Royce/AFRC partnership manager Dr Steven Halliday and James Farrar, from Wilde Analysis, the engineering simulation and numerical modelling specialists. Dr Dickinson, business development manager at the University of Strathclyde-based AFRC, told delegates how collaboration could help to drive innovation forward.
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scientific manner in order to fully understand the challenges involved in the high volume production of precision forged nickel aerofoils and the thermal and mechanical impact of the process on die life. Wilde Analysis principal engineer for process modelling, James Farrar, emphasised the integral role of design and how design and simulation at the early stages of a project could cut manufacturing time and costs later on. Mr Farrar highlighted the capabilities of engineering software such as DEFORM, the world's most widely used analysis software for optimising bulk metal, glass and other non-metallic
forming, heat treatment and machining processes. The software could be used to model bulk forming techniques such as hot forging, cold forming, ring rolling, sheet forming, superplastic forming and drawing techniques and allowed designers to take a more systematic approach when investigating systems and processes as part of a design of experiments exercise. Delegates also had the opportunity to discuss how they could collaborate on the development of forging and forming techniques and expand their networks.
Event Reviews Manufacturing 2050
complicated instructions, allowing products to be built faster and with fewer errors.
AMRC Integrated Manufacturing Group Centre, Rotherham 10th April
Chris Wilkinson, interim chief technology officer at Soil Machine Dynamics, one of the world's leading manufacturers of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) designed for hazardous environments, outlined a futuristic vision of the world, dubbed “DIDO” - Data In Data Out.
Technologies being used and developed today are set to transform the world of manufacturing, according to experts from some of the leading global engineering businesses. Specialists from Boeing, BAE Systems, Siemens, Hexagon Metrology and Delcam were among the speakers at the Manufacturing 2050 conference, which showcased advanced technologies being used in the fields of robotics, automation, vision systems and large volume metrology. The conference, hosted by NAMTEC and the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre’s (AMRC) Integrated Manufacturing Group (IMG) also marked the launch of the AMRC's latest development, Factory 2050. Opening the conference, AMRC projects director, John Baragwanath, OBE, outlined the AMRC's expertise and facilities and the new capabilities which Factory 2050 will offer to meet the future needs of aerospace and other high value manufacturing industries. Facilities will include advanced robotics, flexible automation and 3D printing, using flexible, automated systems. BAE Systems’ specialist engineer for assembly development, Jon Carberry, predicted a future that encompassed human/robotic
In a DIDO world, data, rather than products would be imported and exported by countries and the products the data described would be made by local manufacturers without the need for rivets or bonding agents.
Shop floor of the AMRC Integrated Manufacturing Group facility in Rotherham
collaboration, a fusion of augmented reality and virtual reality, smart textiles and multiphysics simulations, combining different physical models such as chemical kinetics and fluid dynamics. Leading global supplier of pneumatic and electronic automation, Festo, displayed a clutch of mechatronic animals it had developed. Despite initially appearing to be highly sophisticated toys, the penguin, fish, kangaroo and elephant's real purpose was to demonstrate how autonomous bio-mechatronics, inspired by nature, could be used in manufacturing. Examples include a Bionic Handling Assistant, inspired by an elephant's trunk and made using additive layer manufacturing techniques, which can grip, move and position products and control processes. Andrew Peters, divisional director
of drive technologies at Siemens, outlined the three industrial revolutions which had already changed the world. Following on from the invention of the mechanical loom, the development of the conveyor belt and the creation of the programmable logic controller, the world was now about to experience the next Industrial Revolution – the development of “cyber-physical systems,” which would see manufacturing changing faster than ever before.
Other sessions saw representatives of Hexagon Metrology and Delcam discussing the relevance of using inspection techniques ranging from nano scale to in excess of 50 metres during manufacturing, rather than in the field and the need for adaptive machining, respectively. The day concluded with tours of the IMG and AMRC facilities. IMG head of group Ben Morgan said: “Attendees told me they found the Manufacturing 2050 event thought provoking and insightful.”
Boeing electronic systems engineer Paul Davies brought delegates up to date on the aerospace giant's advanced robotic technology, known as Augmented Reality, or AR.
With a selection of presenters from various industries, it was interesting to see how suppliers and end users perceived the future of manufacturing and what they hope to see from the AMRC Factory 2050.
AR has been hailed as a disruptive technology, combining computer graphics and machine vision that can help to reduce training requirements and ease the communication of technically
“The event has started discussions among both SMEs and current partners which bodes well for forthcoming work, collaboration and the future prospects of UK manufacturing in general.”
AMRC Integrated Manufacturing Group facilities in Rotherham E-mail: info@namtec.co.uk
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25
Event Reviews and Upcoming Events Latest Advances in Arc Welding for Industry Cedar Court, Wakefield 14th May Industry is facing major challenges in recruiting enough skilled welders with appropriate qualifications and a wide enough knowledge base to meet the demands of modern manufacturing. That was the message from experts in arc welding and leaders in technology to delegates attending a NAMTEC conference on the latest advances in arc welding for industry. Speakers included representatives from the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC), Rolls-Royce, joining technology research and development organisation TWI, ITW Welding Products and mechanised, automated, robotic and automatic welding systems specialist Polysoude. Professor Steven Jones, Rolls-Royce’s global engineering specialist on fusion welding, told delegates challenges facing the sector included the availability of skilled welders who were not simply competent in their own field. Rolls-Royce employed more than 20 different manufacturing technologies on a range of different materials to make an engine and that meant it needed welders with diverse skills and knowledge, including an understanding of quality, design and materials science. Finding potential employees with the right skills was made more
difficult because the UK had fallen short when it came to delivering a qualification in high integrity and master welding that covered mechanised and advanced welding processes. Prof Jones also stressed the need for employers to boost the skills of their existing teams and give staff the opportunity to keep learning and developing their welding skills Keith Bridger from the Nuclear AMRC also emphasised the challenges of recruiting high integrity welders and the need for them to develop a “nuclear mind set,” if UK manufacturers were to win contracts from the nuclear sector. Companies needed to know and understand the relevant codes, regulations, safety justifications and quality systems used in the nuclear sector and for nuclear pressure vessels in particular.
All of this had to be set against a background of achieving a failure rate of one in 10 million years. Richard Pargeter, from TWI, focused on the importance of understanding the effects of welding on the microstructure of steels and their properties. He told delegates the welding process involved a series of thermal cycles, comprising rapid localised heating and cooling, which needed to be balanced to attain the desired properties. High temperatures at the ‘fusion line’ – where the weld forms – created a coarse grain structure which reduced and became more refined further away from the fusion line. Rapid cooling, meanwhile, caused a hard microstructure to develop. While a coarse grain structure was undesirable because it resulted in
Upcoming Events First step to composites not black magic AMRC Knowledge Transfer Centre, Rotherham 17th September 2014 NAMTEC and the AMRC’s Composite Centre, are hosting an event to encourage companies to to consider how using composites
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might impact and improve their products. Gathering leading experts in the field, the day will see both multinationals and SMEs discuss the driving force behind viewing composites as opportunities rather than threats. Topics will include cover design flexibility, technology transfer, implementation of composites from traditional products, manufacturing lines and
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machining techniques. Places are FREE to members of the AMRC Forum and £30 for non-members. For more information visit: www.namtec.co.uk/events-andnetworking See back page for information about our 4th Annual Conference & Dinner
low toughness, material with a hard microstructure tended to be brittle, which was why the high and low heat inputs needed to be balanced. John Titmus, from ITW, and Alyn Hall, from Polysoude UK outlined current developments in welding processes. John Titmus discussed different ways of preparing edges to be welded, including the use of V, Y, X and U bevels and the increasing focus on improving productivity and quality, while reducing the cost of welding. Alyn Hall looked at Tungsten Inert Gas Electrically Reinforced – or TIGer – welding. TIGer welding was not so much a new technology as a new process, offering higher deposition rates, whilst maintaining the weld quality of a conventional TIG process.
Training Courses
Upcoming Courses
For more information about all the upcoming courses at the AMRC Training Centre, visit: www.amrctraining.co.uk/courses-calendar Email: info@amrctraining.co.uk Telephone: 0114 222 9958
Metals for Aerospace Applications
Advanced CNC Turning Programme
AMRC Training Centre, Rotherham 5th August 2014
AMRC Training Centre, Rotherham 18th-21st August 2014
This course provides an introduction to the principal aerospace metals and their applications.
A four-day advanced course for CAM programming and production on CNC Turning Centres, and typical applications in today’s modern engineering environment.
Duration: 1 day Price: £400
Duration: 4 day Price: £800
Apprentice Mentoring: Engineering the Next Generation AMRC Training Centre, Rotherham 9th September 2014 This programme will provide an understanding of what is included within the mentoring process for businesses employing apprentices. It will cover attributes required, the mentoring process and how to work with assessors. Duration: 1 day Price: £99
E-mail: info@namtec.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)114 222 4786
www.namtec.co.uk
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Upcoming Events
Put this ve important d ry in your diar ate y!
2014
AMRC-NAMTEC Annual Conference & Dinner Thursday 16th October 2014 The Queens Hotel, Leeds This year’s AMRC-NAMTEC conference will focus on advances in net shape manufacture. Additive manufacturing processes have received intense media attention, but what are the realities of net and near-net shape manufacturing with metals? Does the technology live up to the hype? The conference will look at the latest advances in traditional net shape manufacturing processes such as casting and forging and forming, plus recent developments in powder metallurgy techniques.
Experts from aerospace, power, oil & gas and other sectors will present the latest developments and industry challenges in this fast-moving area. The full line up will be available shortly. Members of the AMRC Forum with Membership Plus benefits, TIG members and AMRC & Nuclear AMRC tier 1 & 2 partners are eligible for two free places to both the conference and dinner. Competitive non-member rates and exhibition spaces are also available.
For more information and to book your place visit: www.namtec.co.uk/annual-conference-2014 28
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