FORGINGS company Barton Coldform has won a £300,000 contract with the Ford Motor Company.

It was awarded following the development of prototype parts produced using the latest additive manufacturing 3D printing techniques through an innovative programme based at WMG, University of Warwick.

The programme offers companies the opportunity to access a range of cutting edge technologies and equipment, which facilitate the development of new products and services.

Andrew Nuttall, managing director of Barton Coldform, which is headquartered on Stonebridge Cross Business Park in Droitwich, said: "Barton are proud of their position at the forefront of UK manufacturing innovation and are confident that this technology will revolutionise certain of our pre-manufacturing processes. Whilst we are not yet able to make actual parts using 3D printing, being able to showcase the fit and form of our parts to customers so quickly means that lead times are much shorter. Our customers can now move their design and production forward to meet the increasingly short deadlines demanded.”

Using traditional methods, it would normally take Barton Coldform up to 14 weeks to produce tooling to create demonstrator parts and products but now using 3D printing the process takes just days. The new process has made significant time saving, giving customers far quicker access to their prototype parts, resulting in the whole supply chain saving both time and money.

Dr Mark Swift, head of SME programmes at WMG said “We are delighted that Barton Coldform Ltd has been able to use this technology to their advantage. Many other manufacturers in the region are also seeing positive impact through the programme we have which has been supporting West Midlands SMEs for over three years now.”