MetLase (www.metlase.com), a joint venture between Rolls-Royce and Unipart Group, has become the latest member of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), following a recent collaboration that saw it develop a set of 14 complex assembly fixtures.

Formed in 2015, MetLase will work as a partner within the Integrated Manufacturing Group (IMG) at the AMRC’s Factory 2050 facility.

James Illingworth, IMG leader in automated assembly, said: “Developing ‘smart’ fixturing by using sensors to collect data provides valuable benefits for in-process control and monitoring, as well as improvements in part quality.

“The data collected can be used in real-time for process adjustment or later in the manufacturing process for review.”

Steve Dunn, managing director of MetLase, said: “We are pleased to join the AMRC, which has a global reputation as a centre of excellence for manufacturing research and innovative engineering.

“As partners in IMG, we can combine our expertise to develop our fixtures to interact with autonomous technologies such as those involved with robotic assembly.”