GKN Aerospace to Open Latest Additive Industries Process and Application Centre Close to Bristol, UK

GKN Aerospace is just one aspect of the powerhouse of manufacturing activity emanating from GKN—a company rich in history—with origins founded as far back as the 1700s. Overall, GKN presents a huge emphasis on 3D printing and additive manufacturing processes that only continues to grow within all of their main divisions featuring aerospace, automotive, powder metallurgy, and wheels and structures. With main headquarters in the UK, GKN Aerospace continues the overall forward momentum as CTO Russ Dunn opens the latest Additive Industries Process and Application Centre close to Bristol.

So far, other Additive Industries centres have been opened in Eindhoven, Los Angeles, and Singapore. Each facility offers its ‘own specialism’ related to AM processes. The UK & Ireland Process and Application Centre is situated at Filton Aerospace Park, famously known as the site of the Concorde’s development and production in the 60s and 70s. Other important aerospace activities are currently taking place there, as well as engineering and manufacturing, with industry leaders like Airbus, Rolls-Royce, and GKN working nearby.

The site, now completely renovated and ‘in line with all the highest standards,’ has been used for numerous aerospace projects in the past, as well as lightning strike tests. The Additive Industries facility at this site will allow for a focus on both the production of new materials as well as continued process development.

On March 12th, Russ Dunn, CTO of GKN Aerospace, Dr Mark Beard, Additive Industries’ Global Director Process & Application Development and General Manager of the Centre, and Daan Kersten, CEO of Additive Industries, will oversee the official opening ceremony of the facility.

The opening ceremony and event will run from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. There will be a full schedule, featuring presentations and announcements. During the afternoon, those attending can expect the following:

• Presentation about GKN Global Technology Center (also in Filton) – by Paul Perera, VP Technology at GKN Aerospace.
• Discussion on the additive manufacturing vision for Airbus, and perspective on the growing AM ‘ecosystem’ in Filton – by Dave Best, Head of Business and Strategy for Airbus.
• Presentation on APWorks and their choices for advancing in industrialization, working with the Additive Industries Competence Centre in Filton; accompanied by a case study that includes GKN and ANSYS – by Jon Meyer, CPO for APWorks.

Both GKN and Additive Industries continue to be a powerful—and advancing—presence within the AM field, around the world. GKN has collaborated with other companies like GE Additive  and Porsche, and recently they purchased Forecast3D. Additive Industries has also been in the 3D printing news headlines as they partnered with APWorks, Volkswagen, the Switzerland-based Sauber F1 Team, and more.

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