In the 21st century, product design is central to driving revenue – it provides an opportunity to connect to consumers, increase sales, and personify and build a brand. The CMF design process – colour, material, finishing – is an essential part of product design but, for various reasons, remains a challenge for designers to integrate easily into the design process.

Engineers at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) have saved a knife manufacturer valuable time and wasted energy by simulating the manufacturing process and estimating the production costs of introducing additive manufacturing (AM) in its production process.

A recent £2.5m investment in its new CNC machining shop is paying off for Alucast, with the new technology paying a pivotal role in helping it secure new contracts in the electrification sector.

When dispensing small amounts of two-part adhesives or other materials, two key considerations are whether the material is mixed correctly, and the accuracy of the amount dispensed. Here, Paul Whitehead, Key Account Manager at Intertronics, shares his thoughts on the precise metering, mixing and dispensing of small amounts of two-part materials.

‘Blooming’, for those who use cyanoacrylate-based adhesives, has been the talk of the manufacturing industry for many years. It is the white staining of parts near where the adhesive is applied that detracts from the overall appearance of the assembled parts.

In what is one of its largest single orders to date, Stratasys has announced that Latvia-based specialist aerospace additive manufacturing service provider, AM Craft has purchased four large-scale production-grade Stratasys F900 3D Printers to provide certifiable 3D printed parts for a much wider range of aircraft interior applications.

In December 2019, I embarked on a simulated astronaut mission in Hawai’i. The EMMIHS-II mission is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA)-funded Euro Moon Mars Initiative (EMM), the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) and the International Moon Base Alliance (IMA).