first time tool' and 'right first time moulded

part' for the manufacturer," says Julia

Moore. "ESI brings the toolmakers' unique

technical knowledge on the manufacture of

tooling in at the correct stage of the concept

design. It should be recognised that 80 per

cent of the manufacturing cost of a new

product is determined by the product and

tooling design."

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

The GTMA recognises that UK-based OEMs

want to source new parts locally and even

wish to re-shore projects that were located

overseas. "UKTA will open up new opportunities for the partner companies. With

a

potential complement of more than 100 individual toolmakers from

world-class companies and a combined turnover

of over £20

million we can address the needs of any

manufacturing business, whatever the

scale," she says.

Continued improvement of the Incremental

Sheetmetal Forming (ISF) project has resulted in a number of projects

being developed

for a number of industrial partners. However,

these are subject to Non Disclosure

Agreements.

As a sheet forming process suited to low volume and one-off

manufacture, the GTMA's

ISF uses an industrial robot to apply a very

small tool contact area to achieve controlled

deformation with low applied loads and very

high accuracy. The tooling costs and lead

times are a fraction of what is currently used

GTMA AT MACH

25

GTMA

in traditional sheet forming operations.

This innovative technology will bring direct

benefits to component suppliers through the

supply chain to the OEMs.

With GTMA's links to OEMs and first tier

suppliers the association acts as a conduit

between the 'wants' of the OEM industry

and the capabilities of the engineering businesses in the UK. "Our work with OEMs and

Tier 1s has seen initiatives to raise standards

in our membership base, which is now seen

as a valuable resource for buyers building

manufacturing supply chains. We play an

active part in enhancing supply chain performance, that includes dealing with Supply

Chain Development, internal supply chain

audits and external evaluation," Julia Moore

concludes.

GTMA INITIATIVES

Throughout halls 4 and 5, a total of 45

GTMA member companies will be displaying

the very latest products and services.

MACH, at the NEC, Birmingham (April 7-11),

is the UK's largest event for manufacturing

technologies and as such is a valuable shop

window for both these GTMA initiatives and

for the supply chain resource of the association's members. We

went to Press on the eve

of the event, which over five days was

expected to attract more than 20,000 visitors.

MACH is billed as the outstanding showcase

for advances in the manufacturing industry. It

is a biennial exhibition which brings together

all the best innovations and latest developments to come from

the manufacturing

technologies sectors under one roof, divided

into dedicated product and service zones.

The 2014 zones are:

• UK Manufacturing Village

• Measurement and Inspection

• 3D Printing Zone (new for 2014)

• Engineering & Laser Zone

• Grinding & Abrasives

• Logistics for Manufacturing

• Surface Finishing & Component Cleaning

(new for 2014)

• Software & Design Solutions Zone

Among MACH 2014 exhibitors are OEM and

prime businesses such as Airbus, RollsRoyce and Messier Bugatti Dowty who also

were making significant contributions to a

vibrant seminar programme running throughout the week.

Education and training is an ever more

important part of what MACH is about and

this was underlined with the announcement

that the show was to be opened by World

land speed record holder and Project

Director for the Bloodhound Supersonic Car

(SSC) Richard Noble OBE.

Bloodhound is uniquely placed to enthuse

young people about an engineering career.

The project is a mainstay of MACH's

Education and Training Zone and is always

very popular.

www.machexhibition.com

www.gtma.co.uk

GTMA was delighted to welcome the

news that MACH 2014 is being opened

by world land speed record holder

and Project Director for the

Bloodhound Supersonic Car (SSC)

Richard Noble OBE.

The Bloodhoud project aims to launch a

1000 mph supersonic car and one of its

core aims is to inspire young people to

pursue careers in science, technology,

engineering and mathematics (STEM)

subjects - an ideal close to the heart of

GTMA and its promotion of engineering as

a career path for the young.

Bloodhound is a way to showcase these

subjects in an exciting and inspiring

way and is a popular mainstay of

MACH's Education and Training Zone,

and is always very popular.

At the same time, several GTMA suppliers

are actively involved in the project, including

MACH exhibitors SGS Carbide Tool (Stand

4210) and Renishaw plc (Stands 5730 and

4664).

SGS is providing the cutting tools to make

the supersonic car's components - cuttingedge high technology projects

of this kind

need cutting-edge suppliers!

Renishaw's involvement is in contributing its

knowledge in additive manufacturing to create key prototype

parts for Bloodhound,

which aims to break the 1000 mph

speed barrier during 2015.

One of the most critical components is

the nose tip for the car, which will be the

first part to break through any land speed

record and is subject to forces as high as

12 tonnes per square metre. Renishaw is

providing a manufacturing resource to

produce the nose tip on its laser melting

machines.

www.renishaw.com/additive

www.sgstool.co.uk

WELCOME TO BLOODHOUND FROM GTMA

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