CBM brings advanced manufacturing and innovation to SMEs
BRITAIN’S biggest trade association for the metals industry has taken the first steps in a pioneering initiative to bring advanced manufacturing and innovation to its SME members.
The Confederation of British Metalforming, based in West Bromwich, launched a strategic relationship with the Advanced Forming Research Centre – one of the government’s seven Catapult R&D centres for high-value manufacturing – in March.
The CBM organised a delegation of forward-thinking members to visit the AFRC’s headquarters at Strathclyde University, to identify common challenges for the metalforming sector and discuss collaboration projects on critical competitiveness issues.
Regional firms attending included Smethwick Drop Forge, Hadley Industries, Barton Cold-Form, from Droitwich, Willenhall-based WH Tildesley, Micas Simulations, from Stourport-on-Severn and Coventry-based Mills Forgings.
CBM operations director Geraldine Bolton said the aim of the visit was to highlight to SMEs the practical benefits in terms of expertise, finance and technology generated by the new relationship.
“Our members are in the supply chains of major OEMs, and competing for work in global sectors, so innovation and increased efficiency are critical,” she said.
“We see the CBM’s role as two-fold; to provide our members with a simple access point to engage effectively with the AFRC, and other Catapult centres, and to broker deeper relationships for our members with the OEMs in critical supply chains.”
At the formal launch in March, West Bromwich West MP Adrian Bailey, who also chairs the Select Committee for Business, Innovation and Skills, predicted that the relationship between the CBM and the AFRC would become a model which could be reproduced across the country.
Ms Bolton said the delegation was the first stage in demonstrating that the model would work and that it would generate genuine bottom-line benefits for members.
CBM president Barry Yeomans – a director at West Bromwich-based Hadley Industries – said the AFRC visit showcased workshop discussions on core issues for supply chain companies.
“Innovation is critical, so we all need to look at how we can share knowledge, facilities and projects for the mutual benefit of everyone – especially our customers,” he said.
“Stripping weight out of vehicles is the Holy Grail of the Automotive Industry, so we’ll be looking at how the use of different materials, modelling and advanced metalforming techniques can achieve that goal.
“It’s also vital that companies learn how to adapt to the new materials now being specified by designers so that they can diversify into new higher-value sectors and markets, so we’ll also be having demonstrations of forming techniques for aluminium and titanium.”
