The FAST STEP 3 consortium is comprised of Bentley Motors, Force Technology Ltd, the Northern Automotive Alliance, The University of Sheffield, Transition International and W.H. Tildesley.
Bentley Motors is the most sought after luxury car brand in the world. The company’s headquarters in Crewe is home to all of its operations including design, R&D, engineering and production of the company’s four model lines, Continental, Flying Spur, Bentayga and Mulsanne. The combination of fine craftsmanship, using skills that have been handed down through generations, alongside engineering expertise and cutting-edge technology is unique to UK luxury car brands such as Bentley. It is also an example of high-value British manufacturing at its best. Bentley employs around 4,000 people at Crewe, and is a potential end user of titanium produced utilising the method developed during the FAST STEP 3 project.
Force Technology is IATF16949 approved and was established to pave the way for development and innovation in the high precision, high duty spring markets. The technology leading manufacturing company is focused on continuously improving its products and systems whilst developing its innovative approach to design and development of processes.
The NAA is a wholly independent, not-for-profit organisation providing support for all companies within the automotive sector in the North of England. As well as business support and provision of funding it provides development and participation support to Innovation consortia, having experience of both project and contract management of large-scale projects.
The University of Sheffield Department of Materials Science and Engineering is one of the leading materials departments in the UK with a long history in metallurgy and a proven track record in participating in applied research projects in support of UK industry. Having developed the concept on a small-scale, it will provide the fundamental science for FAST STEP 3 and will manufacture the tooling and develop the FAST process on a new 250t FAST furnace in the Henry Royce Institute Discovery Centre in Sheffield.
Transition International Ltd is a bespoke manufacturer of Ferro Titanium. The product is made to order, matching exact customer requirements. Transition’s clients recognise the importance of demanding specifications and ensure they are rigorously adhered to. Transition also prepares titanium scrap for both vacuum and air melt applications.
W.H. Tildesley has over 140 years of experience in the Drop Forging industry, servicing many industries worldwide with forged and machined components in many different types of materials ranging from carbon and alloy, nonferrous, stainless, duplex and super alloys. W.H. Tildesley will develop the mould designs and forging dies and tools to enable titanium near-net FAST components to be forged.