Titomic enters joint venture with Nèos to establish AM facility for Invar36 tooling production
June 9, 2022
Titomic Limited, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, has signed a joint venture agreement with Nèos International (previously Hockley Pattern), headquartered in Warwick, UK, to establish an advanced manufacturing facility in Halesowen, UK. The agreement will result in what is said to be the world’s first large scale Additive Manufacturing facility to produce and sell Invar36 faceplates for UK and Europe-based customers in the aerospace, space, defence, automotive and nuclear industries.
Under the joint venture, Titomic will supply a Titomic Kinetic Fusion (TKF) 2200 Additive Manufacturing machine at a sale price of around €1.6 million, pending final specification. The TKF 2200 will use supersonic cold gas dynamic spray of metal powders to additively manufacture industrial-scale metal components.
“The Nèos Titomic Joint Venture will provide world-leading Invar tooling manufacturing capability through Additive Manufacturing,” commented Herbert Koeck, Managing Director of Titomic. “It is the culmination of years of research and development, dedication, and focussed commercial execution. Since late 2020, we’ve worked diligently alongside Nèos to develop best-in-class technology – technology that will redefine the possibilities for tooling manufacture and cold spray.“
“This is one of many partnerships we look to scale, as we establish ourselves as the only global supplier of low, medium and high-pressure cold spray systems, opening up new opportunities across the aerospace, space, defence, automotive, and nuclear industries,” he added.
Titomic’s TKF technology is said to offer multiple benefits for the manufacturing Invar tooling. The process can reduce material waste by 80% compared to traditional subtractive manufacturing from billet, and enables improved lead times. It is also possible to repair existing tools, significantly mitigating maintenance and replacement costs. The reduced porosity, compared to tooling manufactured by casting, also increases product lifespan.
Carl Roberts, Chief Executive Officer of Nèos International, stated, “This joint venture with Titomic is another exciting stage in the growth of Nèos as a major player in specialist engineering and solutions. We continue to invest in new companies and advanced technologies ensuring that we provide our customers with the best solutions and that we offer our people in the group the best opportunities.”
