The ability of Additive Manufacturing to be a significant disruptive technology for UK manufacturers will receive a special focus at MACH 2022. The focus will be underpinned by the relaunch of the only UK trade association dedicated to the sector, AM-UK.
AM-UK is designed for companies who work with Additive and 3D printing technology – such as materials suppliers, design services, machine suppliers or post processing services.
Additive Manufacturing is a truly transformational technology that is increasingly having a disruptive impact on traditional methods of production enabling businesses to develop new and better products at lower cost and with greater sustainability.
One of the companies exhibiting within the MACH 2022 3D Printing & Additive Manufacturing Zone, Tri-Tech 3D, sums up the performance-enhancing capabilities of the technology like this: “Once a business has identified 3D printing as a design solution, the design to manufacturing process can put a rocket boost on productivity.”
Setup in 2014, AM-UK was initially a government-supported collaboration to help drive the UK’s additive manufacturing strategy. In 2020 AM-UK became part of the wider Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) family.
The MTA is now positioning AM-UK as the authoritative voice of the UK’s addictive manufacturing sector, and over the next 12 months will develop and implement the services which will support, promote and ultimately contribute towards the growth of the Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing community in the UK.
James Selka, CEO, MTA, which organises the MACH exhibition, said: “The ability of AM-UK to be the voice of the sector will be crucial in the development of the technology and the firms using it. Our aim is to establish the UK as a world leader in the development and adoption of Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing technology across all industry sectors.”
At MACH 2022, AM-UK is sponsoring the 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Zone and is using the occasion to highlight the benefits of the association to a wider audience. Key to this will be the relaunch of the AM-UK website and a new network portal.
Companies are being invited to visit the Zone, which is located in Hall 17, and find out more about the network and see how they can sign-up to be involved in taking AM and 3D Printing forward in the UK.
Additive Manufacturing will also be the subject of several presentations during the show’s seminar programme. On the Wednesday (6th April), the morning speaker sessions will be devoted to the subject of Additive Manufacturing.
Firstly, Kieron Salter, CEO at the Digital Manufacturing Centre, will discuss how to utilise the opportunities posed by Additive Manufacturing to develop cost-effective component production. This will be followed by a presentation from Ed Cant, Advanced Research Engineer at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, who will discuss The Future of Tooling and Fixturing in Additive Manufacturing.
The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) is one of the UK’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult centres and is home to the National Centre for Additive Manufacturing (NCAM), specialising in manufacturing process development from technology readiness level (TRL) 3 – 6. It is equipped with one of the widest arrays of Additive Manufacturing equipment in Europe and has a dedicated facility specifically for polymer additive manufacturing.
This presentation will discuss the current state-of the-art for creating tools and fixtures utilising polymer additive manufacturing and what challenges lie ahead for the technology.
Stuart Watt, Advanced Research Engineer at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, will round off the Additive Manufacturing discussions by outlining where those looking to utilise the disruptive technology of 3D Printing within their business should begin.For more details on AM-UK, visit www.am-uk.org.uk
Visit Tri-Tech 3D on Stand 17-520.
