GKN Additive
Metal additive manufacturing company, GKN Additive, has cut the ribbon on its first customer centre in China this week.
The new facility in Danyang will allow customers and partners to get hands-on experience with metal 3D printing and work with GKN Additive's engineers to design and print components. The new location is the company’s sixth R&D and manufacturing facility as part of a print network across Europe, North America and Asia.
"China is the world's largest automotive market and automotive manufacturing country for conventional and new energy vehicles. Automotive development activities have shifted from traditional regions to China, and this leads to an increased demand on new technologies like additive manufacturing," said Guido Degen, President Additive Manufacturing at GKN Powder Metallurgy.
GKN specialises in direct metal laser sintering and binder jetting technology. Last year, the company announced a partnership with HP to deploy its new HP Metal Jet technology in its production plants to produce functional metal parts for automotive and industrial customers.
Degen continued: "We believe that metal additive manufacturing is one of the future processes that will have great effect on the automotive industry and electric vehicle production. From saving time to market through rapid prototyping to redesigning and rethinking parts and assemblies for additive, to reduced inventories by on-demand replacements - metal AM adds value during the whole component life cycle."
GKN Additive’s parent company, GKN Powder Metallurgy, first entered the Chinese market in 2006 and now employs a team of more than 500 people across two locations in Danyang and Yizheng in the coastal Jiangsu province, north of Shanghai. GKN Powder Metallurgy China manufactures metal powders and sintered products primarily for automotive engine, transmission, body and chassis applications and is now one of the top five suppliers of the Chinese automotive premium market.
GKN Additive is exhibiting at TCT Asia this week on February 21-23 at SNEIC, Shanghai. To learn more about the new facility, visit stand W5-C60.
