BIRMINGHAM, UK, July 24, 2014 – Delcam is to be part of a consortium of UK companies to be lead by GKN Aerospace in a 3½ year, £13.4 million research and development program called Horizon (AM) that builds on GKN Aerospace’s extensive and fast-developing capability in additive manufacturing.
The Horizon (AM) team includes GKN Aerospace, Renishaw, Delcam, and the Universities of 
Sheffield and Warwick. The program is backed by the UK’s Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) and funded jointly by industry and the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB).
The project is part of a major investment of £154 million in research projects to keep the UK as a world leader in aerospace innovation that was announced by the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, during his visit to 2014 Farnborough International Air Show.
Horizon (AM) will take a number of promising additive manufacturing (AM) techniques from research and development through to viable production processes, able to create components that could be as much as 50 per cent lighter than their conventional counterparts, with complex geometries that cannot be manufactured cost effectively today. These new processes will unlock innovations in low-drag, high-performance wing designs and in lighter, even more efficient engine systems – and lead to dramatic reductions in aircraft fuel consumption and emissions.
The program will focus initially on using AM techniques to create near-net shape parts which require minimal subsequent machining. This will dramatically improve the ‘buy-to-fly’ ratio of the parts by reducing the considerable cost in time and material wastage associated with the conventional machining of metal forgings or billets. With material wastage as high as 90 per cent for some parts, a significant reduction here will also provide major environmental benefits.
Within the project, Delcam will work with GKN Aerospace on an integrated solution to combine additive and subtractive technologies seamlessly. This approach will allow companies to benefit from both the geometrical freedom offered by AM and the surface finish and accuracy that is possible with subtractive manufacturing.
Rich Oldfield, technical director of GKN Aerospace, explained: “AM incorporates a range of hugely promising manufacturing technologies that the UK aerospace sector must fully understand and exploit if it is to retain its position as the largest national aerospace industry outside the USA. This strong consortium has the expertise and understanding to continue the process of industrializing these technologies for use in both current program updates and next-generation aircraft.”
About Delcam
Delcam is one of the world’s leading suppliers of CAM software and associated services, and also supplies systems for product design, tooling design, reverse engineering and inspection. The company has grown steadily since being founded formally in 1977, after initial development work at Cambridge University led by the late Donald Welbourn. It is now among the largest developers of product design and manufacturing software in the UK, with subsidiaries in America, Europe and Asia. Over 330 people are employed at Delcam’s Birmingham headquarters, with almost 400 staff working in the company’s overseas subsidiaries and around 200 more in its international joint ventures.
Delcam’s software and services help manufacturing companies to increase productivity, improve quality and reduce lead times. The company’s software is used in over 90 countries by more than 45,000 organizations. These customers range from multi-national corporations to independent designers, toolmakers and sub-contractors, and come from a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, automotive, electrical appliances, footwear, healthcare, motor sport, packaging, toys, sports equipment, jewellery and signmaking. On February 6, 2014, Delcam was acquired by Autodesk and now operates as a wholly-owned, independently-operated subsidiary.
For further information, please visit www.delcam.com.