Jackie Cook, Author at Addition Design

Addition to exhibit at Automation UK 2023

Written by Jackie Cook on 1st June 2023. Posted in News.

Addition will be exhibiting at the first ever Automation UK event on 20th and 21st June 2023 at CBS Arena in Coventry on stand A14.

On the stand Addition will be offering companies chance to have their components scanned which can then be digitised to create the virtual print ready model for production. Typically, parts can be back on site ready for fitting in under 7 days.

Addition will be offering companies a chance to have a component 3D scanned and added to their own virtual inventory on the stand. Components which have been 3D scanned at Automation UK 2023 will receive a 10% discount when they are ordered.*

Automation UK, the new exhibition highlighting the importance of robotics and systems integration to the future growth of the UK economy, is poised to be a sell-out event as the countdown to the show enters its final weeks. Taking place at the Coventry Building Society Arena, between 20th-21st June 2023, the unique event highlights the latest products, developments and solutions in robotics and automation, with solutions on display for visitors to improve efficiency and productivity in their operation.

Owned and organised in conjunction with BARA (British Automation & Robot Association), the event is designed to promote the use of, and assist in the development of, industrial robots and automation in British industry. Being owned by the industry, for the benefit of the industry, means there are many BARA members exhibiting – each showcasing their latest products and services, with experts on hand to offer advice and support.

Big names exhibiting include ABB, CKF, FANUC, Festo, KUKA Robotics, Mills CNC, Piab, Pilz Automation, RM Group, Schubert and Yaskawa. Joining them will be nearly 40 other companies all active in the sector and looking to raise their profiles and generate new business.

To find out more and book your free place to attend please visit https://www.automation-uk.co.uk/

Addition are members of PPMA (Processing and Packaging Machinery Association) and BARA (British Automation and Robot Association) https://www.ppma.co.uk/bara.html

*One component only per company. The 10% discount is against the price when the component is ordered for the first time only which will include our standard reverse engineering fee. New customers only.

Pharmaceutical Packing Lines – Reducing Downtime

Written by Jackie Cook on 23rd May 2023. Posted in Blog.

Pharmaceutical packing lines play a vital role in the production and distribution of medicines and other pharmaceutical products. However, downtime in these facilities can have serious consequences, including lost productivity, missed deadlines, and increased costs. In this blog post, we will explore how additive manufacturing (AM) can help reduce downtime in pharmaceutical packing lines.

Despite the best efforts of pharmaceutical companies to maintain their equipment, with the high volumes that are put through these machines, unexpected downtime is a reality that can occur at any time. When a line goes down unexpectedly, it can lead to a cascade of issues, such as delays in product delivery, loss of production time, and reduced customer satisfaction. The effects of prolonged downtime on pharmaceutical packing lines can be significant. Lost productivity, missed deadlines, and increased costs can all impact a company’s bottom line. Moreover, delays in the delivery of pharmaceutical products can lead to serious consequences, such as patient harm or regulatory non-compliance.

For example, if a machine fails during the packaging process, it can lead to errors in dosage or contamination, which can compromise the safety and efficacy of the product. In addition, pharmaceutical packaging lines require high standards of cleanliness and hygiene, and any unplanned downtime can affect the sterility of the environment.

According to a report by Deloitte, unplanned downtime can cost manufacturers up to $3.6 million per year in lost production and maintenance expenses. This includes costs associated with equipment repairs, replacement parts, labour, and lost production.

In addition to these direct costs, downtime can also have indirect financial implications, such as lost revenue and damage to a company’s reputation. If a company is unable to fulfil orders due to downtime, it may lose revenue and potentially even customers. Customers and stakeholders can quickly lose confidence in a company’s ability to deliver quality products on time, which can have long-lasting effects on the company’s bottom line. Downtime can also impact a company’s ability to meet regulatory requirements, which can lead to fines and legal fees.

To minimize the financial impact of downtime, it’s important for pharmaceutical companies to have a proactive maintenance and repair strategy in place. This can include regular equipment inspections, predictive maintenance, and quick response times for repairs.

Additive manufacturing can help reduce downtime in pharmaceutical packing lines by providing a fast and flexible solution to repair or replace damaged or worn-out parts. With the ability to manipulate data obtained using 3D scanning, companies can reproduce parts in CAD and print them on their machines within 5-7 days. This significantly reduces the time required to wait for replacement parts, minimizing the impact of downtime on productivity.

Addition call this the “break-to-make” time: the duration of time between a critical part breaking and the machine, making the product again, with replacements. As a company, Addition makes this process as efficient as possible by using 3D scanning, virtual stock holding and additive manufacturing in traceable materials meaning it is very simple for engineering teams to find the part they need through their own virtual inventory and order it to be back on their machine in 4-5 business days.

Addition works with its customers to build digital copies of critical parts, enabling Addition to be the first responder when unplanned downtime occurs. The team at Addition understand the stresses that components on a pharmaceutical packing line go through and so have the knowledge to apply the most appropriate material and technology to get its customers up and running as quickly as possible, significantly reducing the impact on the pharmaceutical industry of unplanned downtime.

Addition Design to exhibit at Making Pharmaceuticals

Written by Jackie Cook on 4th April 2023. Posted in News.

Addition Design will be exhibiting at Making Pharmaceuticals at Coventry Building Society Arena on 25^th and 26^th April 2023 on stand 761, alongside Chester Medical Solutions.

Director, Tom Fripp will be presenting on ‘Using the three pillars of 3D printing to support pharma manufacturing’ at 9.50am on Tuesday 25^th April and at 2.00pm on Wednesday 26^th April in the Manufacturing and Packing Theatre as part of the show.

Regardless of technology, there are always considerations for any manufacturing process to get the best from it. This unique presentation, delivered by an internationally recognised 3D print expert with 20 years of experience in 3D printing describes how transformative the power of 3D printing can be when applied correctly and how these same principles are already being adopted by the pharmaceutical industry to drive profitability, productivity, and business risk reduction.

Making Pharmaceuticals is a free-to-attend exhibition and multi-stream conference that will bring together the key decision makers and innovators from across the pharmaceuticals sector to discuss key topics including pharmaceutical research, testing, production and distribution. Key areas on the exhibition floor include, cleanrooms and hygiene, laboratory, processing and machinery, ingredients and raw materials and pharmaceutical manufacturing. The exhibition and conference is co-located with Distributing Pharmaceuticals.

To find out more and book your free place to attend visit the website https://www.makingpharma.com/

Sheffield 3D printers flying high after bird tracking project

Written by Jackie Cook on 31st March 2023. Posted in News.

The creator of the world’s smallest and lightest low power GPS tracking technology has commissioned a Sheffield-based 3D printing firm to produce the lightweight plastic housings required to protect its pioneering bird tracking devices from diving pressure and beak damage.

PathTrack, based in Otley, has partnered with Addition Design – a 3D printing company based at South Yorkshire’s Advanced Manufacturing Park – to produce housings for the company’s avian tracking GPS devices to sit in.

Made using a fully traceable industrial grade of nylon, each housing is designed chiefly to protect the GPS components from damage caused by the pressure of oceanic depths in some cases and potential damage from birds with strong beaks in others, enabling researchers to monitor and track a greater number of migrating species across the globe.

Tom Fripp, director at Addition Design, said: “We’re really proud to be working with PathTrack – a fellow Yorkshire company doing some really groundbreaking, important work in the field of avian science.

“The brief was to create plastic housings for the GPS devices to sit in when they’re attached to birds, so we needed to produce something extremely lightweight, waterproof and very hard-wearing.

“The result has been fantastic and it’s wonderful to think our work is playing a part in helping researchers learn more about bird migration around the world.”

PathTrack is renowned for producing the world’s smallest GPS tracking technology, revolutionising avian tracking science by enabling a greater range of bird species to be monitored, thanks to its unique lightweight devices.

Al Matthews, production technician and 3D designer at PathTrack, said: “Partnering with Addition Design on the production of our GPS device housings has already resulted in further innovations and we are enthusiastic about working on many more projects together.

“We’re proud to provide researchers with the world’s smallest GPS tracking technology and we’ve made a real impact in the field of avian tracking science by producing technology that can be applied to a very diverse range of bird species, both on land and in water, from large raptors to penguins, as well as tiny swifts and swallows.

“Because of this, we tasked Addition Design with meeting our very specific range of requirements, both in terms of materials used and, importantly, the weight of the housing.

“We’ve been impressed with their flexibility, communication and, importantly, the product created, which will continue to assist us in helping researchers around the globe track migrating birds, capturing vital data and science for our planet.”

Addition Design offers innovative design solutions to solve complex engineering problems or to help develop customers’ concepts into a prototype and on to manufactured components, all supplied under an ISO9001 quality management system.

Picture: Copyright Richard Phillips, BAS, 2023.

Why industrial 3D printing is the medicine the UK pharma industry needs

Written by Jackie Cook on 21st March 2023. Posted in News.

Opinion piece published in the March 2023 edition of Process & Control Today magazine

In the post-pandemic world, where the shockwaves of Brexit continue to ripple through the supply chain, fast-paced innovation within the 3D printing sector is helping the UK’s pharmaceutical industry to keep moving, as Tom Fripp, director at Sheffield-based 3D printing firm – Addition Design, explains:

It’s no secret that supply chains around the globe are feeling the strain. Turbulent trading conditions caused by a whole host of unprecedented challenges facing society at present mean most industries are needing to adapt fast and seek out new ways to overcome the hurdles of doing business in today’s markets.

The UK’s pharmaceutical industry is no exception.

On the back of a perfect storm which saw both the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit, manufacturers within the sector are reporting lead times for format and change parts of up to 15 weeks, making production line downtime an incredibly expensive and often unaffordable occurrence.

However, innovation within the 3D printing sector is meaning that increasingly, machine lines don’t have to grind to a halt.

With the capability to design and reverse engineer like-for-like components here in the UK, using raw materials sourced from within the country, we’ve been able to cut machine line downtime from 15 weeks to just five to seven days in some cases.

It’s a huge impact, considering the cost of downtime in a high value sector such as pharmaceutical can be as much as £15,000 a day, and it makes the business case for industrial 3D printing a very promising one indeed.

Material gains

Advances in 3D print systems are opening up a whole world of opportunity and enabling companies such as ours to produce the often large and robust change and format parts required by pharma, as well as to utilise higher performing materials capable of replacing metal parts and the Polyoxymethylene (POM) typically used by OEMs.

Nylon is very good at replacing POM-based components like for like, and we’ve just invested more than £100,000 in a new Stratasys F370®CR FDM® Composite Printer, which enables us to print carbon fibre reinforced components.

Both of these materials are much more lightweight than their more traditionally manufactured counterparts, meaning reduced machine wear and a longer lifespan for production equipment, saving maintenance and replacement costs in the future.

Utilising these materials also means organisation’s engineering teams can input into the design process. After all, the highly-skilled engineers who set up pharmaceutical production lines know their machines inside out and are often able to make design suggestions that not only replicate but further enhance the finished component, sometimes incorporating multiple functions in one.

Navigating regulation and IP

Of course, when it comes to replicating parts and manufacturing components for existing equipment, questions are often asked around how 3D printing can comply with necessary pharmaceutical regulation and navigate the issue of intellectual property (IP).

On the latter, it is rarely an issue. This is because more often than not, companies are seeking replacement parts to fulfil functions that are not core to the OEM’s design and therefore exempt from IP ownership. For example, star wheels or guide parts.

Equally, the machine for which the replacement part is being made for is usually out of warranty, too, with 3D printing increasingly turned to as a way of extending the usability of older production line equipment.

With regards to regulatory requirements, we also find that compliance issues are few and far between as the accuracy of 3D printing means components are often like-for-like in their size and shape and all the materials we use have full traceability, thanks to our own quality management procedures.

However, whether it’s determining IP restrictions or ensuring compliance requirements are met, working closely with a clients’ quality management team remains a vital part of the industrial 3D printing process.

Any duplication project should start with a site visit and a data capture exercise to review the machine and the components that are needed before the CAD process to replicate them even begins. From this, certificates of conformity can be produced after production and quality assurance clarity and detail provided where necessary.

Future thinking

While it’s been around for a while now industrial 3D printing is evolving fast and, on the back of the pandemic and Brexit, more and more industries are awakening to the commercial benefits it has to offer.

From the rapid turnaround time for replicating critical components, to the exciting advances being made in printing technology that mean materials such as carbon fibre can be used to produce high performance parts, 3D printing is truly asserting its place at the industrial engineering table.

And, for an industry as heavily regulated and as high-worth as the pharmaceutical sector, it’s proving to be a lifeline.

Machine downtime can cost pharma companies hundreds of thousands of pounds, thanks to ever increasing supply chain delays on the continent.

Reverse engineering using pioneering 3D printing techniques eliminates this, cutting lead times, improving lifespan and reducing costs.

And, at such a challenging time for industry, that’s exactly what the doctor ordered.

You can view the online edition of Process & Control Today here

Click on the image below to download the PDF of the article.

Addition Design’s Tom Fripp joins the 42 Under 42 Class of 2023

Written by Jackie Cook on 20th March 2023. Posted in News.

Tom Fripp, director at Addition Design, has been named as part of the prestigious 42 Under 42 Class of 2023 – an exclusive shortlist of successful entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders.

The Yorkshire Business Insider 42 Under 42 programme has been running for more than 20 years and is renowned for unearthing young business talent.

Successful nominees are named a much-anticipated shortlist and invited to an exclusive event in Leeds to celebrate their achievements.

The programme was established by the well-respected publication, Yorkshire Business Insider Magazine, which states: “Why 42? You might remember that the average age of the Insider Power and Rich List is 52. This event is designed to look ahead and predict who will be the leading business figures in ten years’ time – a talent-scouting exercise if you will.”

Tom, who is 40-years-old, is an internationally recognised, award-winning design expert with more than 17 years of commercial design experience under his belt, having overseen the delivery of over 1,000 design projects.

He has a 1^st Class BA (Hons) in Industrial Design and a Masters with distinction in design for 3D printing both from Sheffield Hallam University.

Tom has been named on seven granted patents including four novel 3D print processes, developed and patented 3D printed facial and ocular prosthetics in the early 2000s and developed and patented the world’s first silicone elastomer 3D printing technology.

He has delivered projects in multiple markets including medical, packaging, consumer, FMCG, promotional, health and safety equipment, industrial and pharma. Including delivering projects for the likes of G4S, Comic Relief, Boots, Smith & Nephew, Nestle, Galpharm, B&Q, Balfour Beatty and Sharp Lifesciences not to mention hundreds of SMEs and inventors.

Tom said: “It’s an honour to be named on this year’s 42 Under 42 shortlist. I’m very proud to have founded Addition Design and, from our home at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Sheffield, we’re seeing some fantastic gains, breaking new ground in what we do and providing fast turnaround, pioneering solutions to help industry keep moving.”

The 42 Under 42 Dinner is set to take place on Thursday 20 April 2023 at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.

For further information, visit www.insidermedia.com/event/yorkshire-42-under-42-dinner-2023

Technological advances in 3d printing are helping people who need medicines

Written by Jackie Cook on 19th March 2023. Posted in News.

A Sheffield design and additive manufacturing business is using its innovative system to help the pharmaceutical industry to save valuable time in its production process.

Addition Design, based at the Advanced Manufacturing Park Technology Centre in Sheffield, has made significant inroads in the pharmaceutical industry working with companies with a global reach.

The equipment that Addition Design supplies parts for is involved in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products which have the capability to improve people’s health. But when these complex machines fail or wear, it reduces the accessibility of these, in some cases, lifesaving drugs.

Tom Fripp, director at Addition Design said: “Sadly, the pharmaceutical industry is well aware of the knock-on impact of having machines out of action for weeks on end as they wait for replacement parts.

“Like any high-volume product, the way to keep costs down is to automate production, and there are vast numbers of machines which have high throughput of medicine at various points in their packing – be it bottles, blisters, foils, pouches, vials or syringes, primary or secondary packaging. But when important parts like guides, wheels, star wheels and change parts break or wear it can mean very expensive downtime whilst parts are supplied from OEM’s or third part suppliers.

“One solution is to hold stock of critical parts, but they can be expensive and take up significant space. Our process utilises virtual stockholding – where we store all the virtual data needed to produce these critical parts on demand using the latest in additive manufacturing technology in like-for like materials. This reduces downtime from months to days, saving 10s of thousands of pounds, as well as allowing our customers to optimise physical storage space needed on-site and reduce cash tied up in physical inventory.

“Our in-house additive manufacturing systems deliver- world class components in durable engineering grade materials and our ISO 9001 quality management system ensures that our quality remains consistent, that all components are fully traceable for those who have demanding material requirements.

“Consumers who need vital medications simply cannot be kept waiting and using our cutting-edge digital design approach we are able to help companies to reduce machinery down time.”

By producing components to get these machines up and running again quickly, Addition Design is helping to reduce the costs and risk associated with producing low and high-volume pharmaceuticals and help keep them flowing to where they are needed in the most efficient way.

“When manufacturers realise the benefits that we can offer, they find that they can increase the flexibility of their offerings from standard pack formats to one off formats which push the boundaries of what is possible. This can open up the possibilities for packing and supply of pharmaceuticals to consumers leading to new ways of delivery and availability.

“We believe that there are huge benefits to be found in the digitisation of change parts and format parts. From the ability to build in improvements to their design based on the expertise found in the engineering team to making use of real time monitoring and self-ordering of on demand parts, when you put the speed and reliability of industrial 3D printing together with the need to minimise downtime on complex equipment there are almost endless possibilities,” added Tom.

Traditionally 3D printing has struggled to work in the pharmaceutical industry, Addition Design worked hard to understand why this was and how they could tackle the problems.

“I have been working with 3D printing for 20 years and have lost count of how many products, devices and components I have designed and supplied in that time as well as how many 3D print systems I have developed or modified. But the areas that always stick out for me are those where the beneficiaries of the technology are people.

“We’re proud to have established ourselves as a trusted, responsive, and sustainable supplier with a number of businesses in this sector and are looking forward to developing our work thanks to our recent investment in a new 3D composite printer that will further improve the quality of change parts and format parts that we are able to produce.

“3D printing is uniquely placed to produce products to support a market of anywhere between one and a million and that means that not only it is supremely flexible in what kind of problems it can solve, it can match the demands of a market looking to supply people with unique issues at the same time as common issues. Making specialist parts and common parts at the same time is something that both the pharmaceutical industry and 3D printing industry share, so once the traditional barriers associated with 3D print in pharmaceutical have been overcome, it’s a perfect match,” concluded Tom.

Addition Design offer innovative design solutions to solve complex engineering problems or help to develop customers concept into a prototype and on to manufactured components all supplied under an ISO9001 quality management system.

Sheffield 3D printing experts give steel firm a competitive advantage

Written by Jackie Cook on 15th March 2023. Posted in News.

A Sheffield design and additive manufacturing business has developed a bespoke device giving a local steel firm a competitive advantage.

Addition Design, based at the Advanced Manufacturing Park Technology Centre in Sheffield, has successfully completed the project with Charles Day Steels, a specialist profile cutting service, using industrial 3D printing.

Charles Day Steels offer flame cutting as well as plasma, waterjet and laser cutting, investing in the latest cutting technology to provide customers with the best quality profile cut parts.

Tom Fripp, director at Addition Design said: “We were pleased to be able to provide Charles Day Steels with a solution that allows them to standardise their profile labelling process and scale this to their range of machines.

“We drafted and delivered a bespoke design working from concept to prototype before setting up the final design for on-demand production using our in-house industrial 3D printing facilities.

“This included reverse engineering, 3D CAD, concept design and prototyping. The final product has resulted in significant time and cost savings for the company.”

Previously the system required extensive time and labour, creating downtime for the machines, and a bottleneck for the company’s workflow.

James Day, business operations director at Charles Day Steels, said: “Addition are masters in applying the benefits of industrial 3D printing and, together with their expertise in design, they were quick to develop a solution to our production problem. They developed and supplied a bespoke device which supports our business and will give us a competitive advantage through a professionally delivered design and development project.”

The resulting device can be integrated across Charles Day Steels’ facility to deliver significant time and cost savings.

To read the case study on this project please click here

Sheffield firm invests in innovative industrial 3D carbon fibre printing technology

Written by Jackie Cook on 13th February 2023. Posted in News.

A Sheffield design and additive manufacturing business has invested £100,000 in new technology to keep it at the cutting edge of industrial 3D printing.

Addition Design, based at the Advanced Manufacturing Park Technology Centre in Sheffield, has welcomed a new Stratasys F370®CR FDM® Composite Printer as part of its investment package.

Tom Fripp, director at Addition Design said: “This new innovative 3D printer is a welcome addition to our business. The investment will improve the quality of change parts and format parts that we are able to produce.

“It will open up new opportunities for us to be able to deliver higher performance parts with reduced lead times. Customers will also benefit from the unique combination of Addition Design’s additive design capabilities with very high performing materials.”

Addition Design is one of the first businesses in the country to invest in this new technology.

Tom added: “During 2022 we saw strong demand from pharmaceutical clients and subcontract packers for our fast turnaround change parts.

“The existing 3D print systems at Addition are very good for volume and precision work but the change parts and format parts tend to be large, robust components on low volume. The new printer is better suited to this application. However, it also takes things a step further by allowing us to print carbon fibre reinforced components, hugely increasing the performance of the parts that we can produce at Addition.

“It also extends our offering into new markets including forming tools and high performance automotive.

“Industrial 3D print technology is at the forefront of enabling businesses to minimise downtime and improve profitability, what’s not to love about that!”

The Stratasys F370®CR FDM® Composite Printers supplement traditional fabrication technologies, allowing industrial manufacturers to replace metal components with high-strength 3D printed composite parts. This accelerates throughput while avoiding the opportunity cost of using production resources or the lead time of outsourcing.

This product was launched to market in 2022 to make work-holding fixtures, soft jaws, and component parts with composite 3D printing in a fraction of the time and cost it takes to machine a metal equivalent.

“We are really excited to be taking this step up in industrial 3D printing and branching out into printing in Carbon Fibre. By using this robust technology, we will be able to overcome some of the challenges in the industry at the moment by meeting the demand for fast turnaround change parts, reducing costly downtime for organisations.

“Our business is focused on design and manufacture solutions that unlock the power of industrial 3D printing for medical, industrial, food, pharmaceutical, sports and consumer goods markets, this investment will help us to achieve even more in 2023 and the years ahead,” added Tom.

Chris Andrews, Regional AM specialist, SYS Systems, said: “The last 18-24 months have put immense pressure on the manufacturing sector, and the F370 CR represents a fantastic mew addition to the Stratasys range to help alleviate some of these challenges.

“We see more and more companies everyday substituting machined metal for strong and rigid 3D printed carbon fibres, not only reducing weight and cost but freeing up your team with 24/7 reliable printing, thanks to being built on the existing and widely adopted F123 Series platform.

“Seeing Addition Design be one of the UK’s earliest adopters of this new technology emphasises the commitment to their customers. Giving them access to the brand-new FDM Nylon-CF10 for everything from bespoke jigs and fixtures, to end use production parts.”

Author: Jackie Cook