Hybrid Advanced Manufacturing Services
We have been pioneers in providing solutions for retrofitting conventional machine tools with additive manufacturing capabilities.
As experts in metal additive manufacturing, we now use our own technology to provide services. We offer:
- Laser Cladding
- Laser Metal Deposition
- Hybrid Manufacturing (additive and subtractive in one machine tool)
- Surface Coating
- Repair and Remanufacture
Dating back to the early 1990’s, academic research had demonstrated the potential benefits of combining additive techniques with milling. However, despite the universally acknowledged potential, and a few niche successes, there were still no commercial solutions for enabling mainstream CNC machines to add metal. This where we come in.
In 2007, active use of a high-speed milling machine was initiated at De Montfort University’s Additive Manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing research laboratory. The cross-pollination of additive and subtractive technologies led to a 4-year UK-based research project named RECLAIM.
The key objectives were to provide a practical means for hybrid manufacturing. In order to achieve this, we designed and developed a set of compact directed energy deposition heads. What made them unique was the integration method. For the first time ever, a solution was created that did not require modification of the structural parts of the CNC machine. This research endeavour has matured into the AMBIT™ tool-changeable deposition system. By 2013 Dr. Jason Jones and Peter Coates founded what is now Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies.