Digital Manufacturing Centre adds two Renishaw RenAM 500Q metal AM machines
October 14, 2020
The Digital Manufacturing Centre (DMC), a metal and polymer Additive Manufacturing facility based within the Silverstone Technology Cluster, run by MEPC, in the South East Midlands region of the UK, reports has purchased two Renishaw RenAM 500Q metal Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) Additive Manufacturing machines.
The DMC explains that the purchase of the machines is a key step towards the centre’s 2,000 m2 production facility’s scheduled opening in Q1 2021, and reports that it will work together with Renishaw to increase quality and efficiencies in Additive Manufacturing and share learnings within metal AM.
The Renishaw RenAM 500Q machines were said to have been chosen due to their increased productivity and quality control, as well as Renishaw’s capabilities in Additive Manufacturing.
Created by engineering company KW Special Projects, the DMC will physically open in Q1 2021. It is part-funded by the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) and its Local Growth Fund. The centre is said to be focused on bringing metal and polymer AM production solutions to a range of industries including automotive, aerospace, defence, industrial, medical and space, both in small- and large-scale projects.
“The process of machine and material selection for the Digital Manufacturing Centre is crucial to our success and therefore a decision process we haven’t taken lightly,” stated Kieron Salter, Digital Manufacturing Centre CEO. “Offering the service of being a technology partner to our clients means that we [the Digital Manufacturing Centre] have to be armed with state-of-the-art, innovative Additive Manufacturing methods and machinery, and learnings within that to ensure we’re constantly offering the best technologies.”
“The decision to forge a close collaboration with Renishaw and purchase two RenAM 500Q machines was a natural step to offer our clients all of these things while benefiting from the support of a local manufacturing supplier,” he continued.
“Renishaw is a leader in metal Additive Manufacturing, its RenAM 500Q machine offers unrivalled productivity, quality control and ability to create a light component but with high torsional strength – one of the key benefits of metal AM innovations – as well as reduced costs per part. Not only this but our close collaboration will mean the DMC’s engineers will be in close contact to Renishaw’s team to ensure maximum efficiencies and learnings within Additive Manufacturing, so we are constantly learning, evolving and innovating.”
Andy Robinson, Renishaw’s Director of Additive Manufacturing, commented, “Providing our RenAM 500Q to the Digital Manufacturing Centre, and being the first metal Additive Manufacturing machine supplier announced, is an exciting moment for our AM team. Being an established global Additive Manufacturing machine supplier, we’re delighted that the DMC has chosen Renishaw to collaborate with, as well as sharing critical learnings to continue innovating and developing the potential for AM.”
Robinson added, “We are looking forward to seeing what the Digital Manufacturing Centre and its clients can create and efficiencies the RenAM 500Q machine can bring, both from the DMC’s physical opening next year [Q1 2021] and in the future.”
