ADVANCING MANUFACTURING ACROSS EUROPE

As additive manufacturing is becoming more common to improve hardware and reduce lead times, larger companies are gaining the advantage since they have the resources, space and hardware to have these machines on their premises, to use or to invest in service providers, to use and develop their know how more rapidly. But a gap is growing in the market between how much additive manufacturing processes make possible and what equipment small and medium- sized enterprises (SME) can access to make use of these new techniques. A series of activities with Germany paired seven SME’s with an applied research partner.

The partner had extensive experience with using additive manufacturing for space and in how the different processes mapped to traditional manufacturing techniques, as well as having all of the necessary equipment available on their premises. The SMEs were invited by the delegation to make a proposal demonstrating how they would use the facilities and knowledge available to improve a specific piece of hardware they manufactured. Each activity was given one year to complete the manufacturing process, with regular meetings with the entire consortium to share best practice. The products ranged from antennas, to propulsion thrusters, to a printed circuit board frame able to absorb vibrations and a flex pivot mechanism.

The initiative was so successful GSTP has orchestrated similar consortiums, pairing four and six companies respectively, with an experienced industry partner in Romania and Belgium.