Machine tools operated by laser and machining centres

Tender description

PLEASE NOTE: This tender was cancelled and is awaiting the ESIF funder approval letter. This project is funded by the European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) and the procurement is dependent on the final funding agreement. The University of Birmingham invites tenders for supply of a hybrid additive subtractive workstation. The workstation will form part of a physical demonstrator, i.e. facilities created as part of the ESIF Project, which will be used to facilitate/support the take-up of high impact manufacturing technologies by the SMEs in West Midlands. In this context, the workstation will be used to develop new applications for the technology in collaboration with technology providers and carry out feasibility studies and pilot projects to address the specific requirements of local SMEs. Therefore, it will be required as part of the project to build strong partnerships with the technology providers and define a joint co-funded R&D programme for the benefits of local businesses. Please not: This tender was cancelled and is awaiting the ESIF funder approval letter. This project is funded by the European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) and the procurement is dependent on the final funding agreement. The University of Birmingham invites tenders for supply of a hybrid additive subtractive workstation. The workstation will form part of a physical demonstrator, i.e. facilities created as part of the ESIF Project, which will be used to facilitate/support the take-up of high impact manufacturing technologies by the SMEs in West Midlands. In this context, the workstation will be used to develop new applications for the technology in collaboration with technology providers and carry out feasibility studies and pilot projects to address the specific requirements of local SMEs. Therefore, it will be required as part of the project to build strong partnerships with the technology providers and define a joint co-funded R&D programme for the benefits of local businesses. The workstation should perform hybrid manufacturing operations within a single platform, especially being capable of executing additive and subtractive operations on workpieces with different configurations/shapes within a single processing setup, in particular on axisymmetric, prismatic and asymmetric/free-form parts and tools. In addition, it should have fully CE compliant guarding for both substractive and additive operations. The workstation should include additive and subtractive sub-systems that have a single PC-based controller capable of executing multi-axis processing strategies employing swivel/rotary tables. The additive sub-system should integrate a high power laser source that supports dual laser mode processing and enables multiple direct energy deposition heads for low and high rate blown powder processing with argon gas for shielding. Also, this sub-system should incorporate a large and fully automatic powder feeder that uses argon as a carrier gas. The subtractive sub-system should be capable of realizing full 5 axis machining operation on complex parts. It should integrate a high power milling spindle and linear and swivel/rotary tables for high accuracy and precision machining. In addition, the subtractive sub-system should have fast automatic tool changing capability with options for multiple tool holding and also tools for process setting up, offset compensation, process monitoring, etc. Finally, it is important in the context of the project the workstation PC-based controller to have built in connectivity to Industry 4.0 enabled “smart” devices and support MT Connect manufacturing protocol for collecting and processing manufacturing data. Estimated budget up to 960 000 GBP.