Josh Denne, head of SME programmes at the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), offers some pointers on how start-ups and spinouts can make their mark in the automotive sector
14 SMEs specialising in clean, green technology have won a share of over £2.5 million in government grant funding through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) Technology Developer Accelerator Programme (TDAP) which helps cutting-edge technology developers bring their innovations to life.
Enable Manufacturing awarded funding for groundbreaking ‘Additive Casting’ of parts for zero emissions vehicles
Enable Manufacturing is one amongst 11 small to medium size enterprises (SME) that have been awarded a combined total of up to £1.48 million investment, to help develop the ‘next big thing’ in zero-emission tailpipe technology for cars, buses and heavy-duty vehicles.
Enable uses a new technology called Additive Casting for the manufacture of metal parts. The process uses moulds made via additive manufacturing to cast high-quality production parts from over 130 different metals, including magnesium. This novel method eliminates the need for expensive tooling and allows manufacturing business to re-shore productions to the UK, leading to a reduction of CO2 emissions and enabling manufacturing business to innovate quicker, reduce inventory and implement a digital supply chain approach for metal parts.