Known for selling German-made turn-key metal-cutting systems to UK and Irish manufacturers, Gosport-based Geo Kingsbury (www.geokingsbury.com) is now complementing its ranges of CNC turning, milling and grinding centres with additive-manufacturing solutions.

This new product line follows the company’s appointment as exclusive distributor (within its current markets) for AddUp Global Additive Solutions (www.addupsolutions.com/en); the latter was formed on 1 April 2016 by Michelin and the Fives industrial engineering group, which jointly own the company.

The venture was born out of Michelin’s extensive use of powder-bed additive techniques for producing sipes for moulds (these give tyres their tread patterns), and the company’s desire to commercialise its expertise.

In September 2015, Michelin partnered with Fives, which brought advanced machine tool design and build experience to the business enterprise.

Richard Kingsbury, managing director of Geo Kingsbury, said: “We have created a new Additive Manufacturing division
at our offices in the Midlands, headed by Richard Hughes; it will operate alongside our Large Prismatic Machines and Milling Turning Grinding technology divisions.

“We will be looking to include further additive manufacturing processes to our portfolio in the coming months, signalling our intention to move strongly into this expanding area of manufacturing.”