New AILU Project:

Exploiting laser technology in 21st century UK manufacturing

 

Background

Lasers have a major role to play in UK manufacturing in the 21st Century, and in late March 2010 the AILU KTN steering group, comprising Stewart Williams (Cranfield University), Paul Hilton (TWI), Malcolm Gower (Imperial College), Martin Sharp (Liverpool John Moores University) and Mike Green (as AILU Secretary), was successful in bidding for work from the Photonics and Plastics (PPE) Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), to prepare a report on the theme of 'Exploiting laser technology in 21st Century UK manufacturing'.

The context for the report is threefold. Firstly, UK industry’s use of laser technology remains relatively low, only ~10% that of German industry per unit of manufactured output (click here to download a PDF of the report). Unless the situation improves, UK industry is less likely to retain, let alone improve, its world position in manufacturing where the trend is for higher productivity, higher added value and mass customisation.

Secondly, the failure of the UK financial sector has caused politicians to turn more of their attention to the manufacturing sector with the expectation that new incentives will follow. Last but not least, R&D support and market demands are increasingly directed at goals such as cleaner environment, sustainable energy production and lower carbon forms of transportation; these in turn are creating new opportunities for lasers in manufacturing.

The support AILU has received from the Photonics KTN and now the PPE KTN has been a great help to the Association, allowing it to pursue activities for the benefit of the growing UK industrial laser community. With regard to this particular project, the report presents laser applications in terms of the themes and sectors identified by national and international funding bodies as manufacturing growth areas; thereby providing a valuable guide to opportunities for manufacturing organisations using or thinking of using laser materials processing.

Like the RULARDO project funded in 2008 by the Photonics KTN, this work is seen as an on-going activity requiring regular updating through AILU's Product and Process Innovation (PPI) Special Interest Group. This group, which represents UK industrial and academic groups involved in laser materials processing R&D, will play a major role in providing the content of the current project.

Opportunities for laser job shops
Laser job shops play an important role in UK laser-based manufacturing, offering batch production capability and providing important proof of principle of the laser route and an interim production solution until the case for in-house manufacturing can be made and implemented.

The current strategic document identifies opportunities for laser subcontractors in such areas as machining of advanced materials, micro-scale processing and surface modification for a host of applications.

With a greater awareness of future manufacturing needs, the subcontract laser community will be better able to benefit from new initiatives and support manufacturing industry. And by expanding the range of laser processes available for batch production, the job shop sector could play a major role in helping UK industry to better exploit laser technology and thereby become more productive and competitive in the world market.

Download the current version of the report

 


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