KW Special Projects
KWSP Digital Manufacturing Centre Render Silverstone
KW Special Projects (KWSP) has secured funding for a new Silverstone-based digital manufacturing facility that will house both polymer and metal 3D printing equipment.
Funding has been offered by the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), a public-private partnership designed to drive economic growth. The hope is that the new 1,657-square-metre Digital Manufacturing Centre will generate £9m additional economic value for the area and assist more than 100 small and medium businesses.
These companies will likely be operating in the motorsport, automotive and aerospace sectors, among others - industries KWSP has been working with since its founding in 2012. The company was established off the back of KW Motorsport to extend its engineering expertise across a wider range of industries and is now looking to further enhance its offering.
As KWSP’s services expand, so do its resources. The launch of the site in Silverstone will be supplemented by an increase in its manufacturing equipment, including the integration of more additive technology. KWSP has been a long-time user of Stratasys fused deposition modelling machines but, going forward, is planning the addition of powder bed fusion – both polymer and metal – and stereolithography processes.
“Having grown from a motorsport background, it’s exciting to be able to help drive the latest technology projects across multiple industries, right here at Silverstone,” commented Kieron Salter, Managing Director at KWSP. “Our goal is to create a hub of engineering innovation that sees the best and most creative minds working side by side to develop the technologies of tomorrow. This is a vision facilitated by SEMLEP, who has been instrumental in securing our funding through its Local Growth Fund, supporting businesses like KWSP in transforming visions into reality.”
“Working with innovative businesses like KWSP to make their ideas become reality is exactly what makes the SEMLEP area the successful place it is today,” added Hilary Chipping, Chief Executive at SEMLEP. “Businesses in this area remain at the cutting edge of digital technology. SEMLEP’s investment through our Local Growth Fund in the Digital Manufacturing Centre is part of our work to strengthen the South East Midland’s position as the commercialisation core of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc and deliver on the commitments made in the Local Industrial Strategy.”
