Project Aims To Boost UK’s Remanufacturing Competitiveness

A recently unveiled £1 million project in the United Kingdom will work to develop an integrated production system incorporating processes required for cost-effective, rapid and reliable remanufacturing of high-value engineering components. The Reclaim project involves a consortium of eight organizations, including Delcam, Renishaw, Electrox, TWI, Precision Engineering Technologies, Cummins Turbo Technologies, Airfoils Technology International and De Montfort University.

The goal of the project, which is receiving an investment of more than £1/2 million from the UK’s government-funded Technology Strategy Board, is to develop a system that combines laser cladding, machining and in-process scanning in a single cell, avoiding the need to use individual machines that require significant capital investment and floor space. Specifically, the project aims to develop a laser cladding head that can fit into the spindle of a conventional milling machine, CAM software that enables seamless control of all three operations and a new contact measurement system.

Although the main focus will be on repairing damaged parts, the new equipment could also be used to manufacture new parts, to upgrade obsolete parts and to reconfigure specialist parts for custom, low-volume applications. The project is sponsored by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).

Project Coordinator Jan Willem Gunnink from Delcam, the software developer that will create a single CAM interface to control the entire process, says the project will provide the UK with a technological advantage over both countries with better-developed remanufacturing sectors and those with lower labor costs. “This project is extremely timely, as the remanufacturing sector is entering a period of sustained growth that will see it double in size during the next 10 years,” he says.