Babcock and Additure partner to increase customer equipment availability

Babcock International has signed a framework agreement with Additure to enhance its digital manufacturing capability within its Land business.

With a focus on increasing customers’ platform availability, this collaboration will develop new digital solutions, such as additive manufacturing, to better manage complex, critical, low volume parts. This new approach will also utilise effective and sustainable technological methods, while moving production closer to the point of need.

Part of Kingsbury Machine Tools, Additure is the Additive Manufacturing division created last year to support customer research and development with additive technologies, as well as offering solutions for low volume production. With an accredited manufacturing capability, Additure is able to bring a wide range of applications, including both powder bed fusion and wire arc additive equipment, to the new collaboration.

Louise Atkinson, Managing Director Defence Equipment at Babcock, said: “We’ve been working for some time with Kingsbury and the Additure team, so it is really exciting to be developing our relationship in this way, finding progressive, sustainable solutions for some long-standing challenges.

“We are looking forward to utilising the advances in our combined approach to increase efficiency in our operations, which in turn increases our customer’s platform availability, by ensuring the right material is available where and when it is needed.”

Ian Brooks, Technical Director at Additure, commented, “In any global supply business, it is crucial that the right materials and spare parts are in the right place at the right time.

“We will assist Babcock in this goal by enhancing its manufacturing capability with the latest digital engineering and manufacturing practices, providing a credible and cost-effective solution for the provision of critical, low volume parts.”

In addition to this pioneering activity in Babcock’s Land business, the technology is being developed across the Group to address similar challenges in Babcock’s wider operations. This partnership will enable Babcock to accelerate this work to deliver value across all business sectors.