The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry has invested in a ‘state of the art’ metal binder-jetting printer, which can undertake the fast production of complicated and highly detailed components.

Supplied by Swedish high-precision 3-D printing specialist Digital Metal, this machine will be the first of its type available in the UK (www.digitalmetal.tech).

Additive manufacturing is used in many sectors, producing everything from simple tools to major parts for aircraft engines. The MTC houses the National Centre for Additive Manufacturing (NCAM).

It is also home to the European Space Agency’s additive-manufacturing benchmarking centre, and it recently became the only non-US partner in ASTM International’s Centre of Excellence in Additive Manufacture.

The new machine will be available to MTC member companies and other organisations interested in testing the technology or taking designs to prototype and pre-production level.

David Brackett, the MTC’s additive-manufacturing technology manager, said: “Binder-jetting is a very fast technology that can create complicated and highly detailed designs, and there is potential for wider material choices than with other metal additive-manufacturing processes that require weldable materials.

"We are delighted to offer this technology to UK companies, and we are inviting anyone who requires small and highly complex metal parts to get in touch with us.

"We are particularly impressed by the production speed and the quality of parts produced.”