Mar 31, 2017 | By David

Pioneering metal powder company Metalysis continues to go from strength to strength since a £20m investment was pledged to the company last year by a handful of private backers. The latest stage for this UK-based manufacturer of 3D printing-ready metal powders will see around £10m of this investment spent, mostly on the establishment of a brand new research centre. A gala opening ceremony to celebrate the launch of the centre took place last night, with around 200 distinguished guests in attendance.

Metalysis stands out in the 3D printing world for its high quality titanium, tantalum, and other metal alloy powders. They are produced using the uniquely efficient FFC process which reduces metal ores to metal using electricity, with a 50% energy reduction compared to other methods. The company’s commitment to faster, cheaper and greener manufacturing processes sets it apart in the industry, and various manufacturing sectors have made use of Metalysis’s products for their 3D printing work. The South Yorkshire-based firm is now eyeing an expansion into the automotive and aerospace industries, which are increasingly implementing 3D printing into the production of titanium components.

The new facility that just opened will be referred to as the Materials Discovery Centre, and its focus will be on advancing research and development of more high performance powders and more efficient means to produce them. The firm’s headquarters will also be relocated to this new building from the nearby Materials Manufacture Centre. 100 new jobs will be created as part of the £10m expansion, and recruitment is already underway for staff. Four traineeships will begin in May, and apprenticeship schemes for the local area are due to be established soon.

The success of Metalysis and this continued investment is a real boon to the local economy, and to the UK’s manufacturing market in general. Growth experienced over the last decade was referred to as the ''UK’s fourth industrial revolution'' by Douglas Caster, chairman of Metalysis, and he declared himself proud to be such a large part of it. ‘’We have a truly unique, patented technology that can produce highly desired metals and novel alloys which have historically been considered too difficult, or too exotic and costly'', he said. ''The UK stands to benefit from our world-leading, transformational process and I am very excited to seeing what the coming decade will bring for Metalysis.” Dion Vaughan, CEO of Metalysis, attributed the company’s success to the historically industrious local South Yorkshire area, former home of coal mining and steel working operations, and the deep talent base around the University of Sheffield.

The current goal for Metalysis is for thousands of tonnes of powder to be produced per year, and the company is referring to this latest phase in its development as Generation 5. According to Vaughan, ‘’titanium compositions for light-weighting vehicles, High Entropy Alloys for aero-engines and Rare Earth elements for permanent magnets for electric vehicles are a few examples of the projects we are working on.’’ We hope that Metalysis’ success will continue, and we can see the progression of the company from niche research project in 2004 to global manufacturing supplier today as a testament to the advances that 3D printing technology has made over the last decade.

Posted in 3D Printer Company

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