Carpenter Additive
Carpenter Technology has shut down its additive manufacturing powders facility in Widnes, UK.
It has led to a significant number of redundancies, with Carpenter Additive serving its additive manufacturing customers from locations in the U.S. and Sweden instead. Despite the facility closure, Carpenter says it remains committed to serving users of additive manufacturing.
The Carpenter Additive business was launched in 2019 to supply engineered metal powders to users of additive manufacturing technology. It followed the 81 million USD acquisition of LPW Technology, a UK-based firm which had become renowned for its metal powder bed fusion materials, as well as powder management, storage and monitoring systems.
At the time of the acquisition, Carpenter Technology described its additive manufacturing activity as 'aggressive', noting it wanted to build an industry-leading position in the market. However, five years on, if the company is to achieve that ambition, it will do so without a UK facility and a smaller workforce.
In a statement given to TCT, Carpenter Technology said: "Carpenter Technology remains committed to our Carpenter Additive business and continues to offer a wide range of additive powders and additive manufacturing expertise to our global customer base.
"As part of our ongoing efforts to achieve leaner operations, we have restructured and consolidated our manufacturing activities, resulting in the closure of our facility in Widnes, UK. Carpenter Additive will continue to supply our global customers from other manufacturing facilities in Athens, Alabama, USA and Toshälla, Sweden. These changes will not have any meaningful impact on the offerings to our customers."
