Wayland Additive
Wayland Additive has announced a ramp up in production of its Calibur3 metal additive manufacturing systems.
Having shipped machines to the likes of Exergy Solutions and the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 2022, Wayland Additive has now confirmed six machines are currently in production with components being procured to manufacture another ten by the end of 2023. In 2024, the company has set itself a target of building 24 machines.
The announcement comes after a significant site expansion which allowed for greater production capacity. Wayland described demand for its Calibur3 printer – which is powered by Neubeam technology – as ‘unprecedented’, especially in a time when machine manufacturers are struggling with supply chain issues. To combat this, Wayland has placed orders for componentry ‘months and months’ in advance of when they are needed, and are moving from ‘make to order’ to ‘buy-off-the-shelf’ to ensure deliveries of machines can be achieved in a couple of months.
Wayland believes that if it were to quote delivering times of up to 18-24 months from order, many customers would consider the situation ‘intolerable’ given it is a new technology. Hence, it has invested in resources and space to address any such bottlenecks.
“We are making significant investment in facilities and infrastructure at the moment,” commented Dan Rushton, Operations Manager at Wayland Additive. “We have, over the last few months, doubled the size of our production facility, added an inspection and workshop area, have installed an impressively large carrousel where all machine parts are sorted and stored, and working towards 2025 will boast a new applications centre and an R&D centre as well.
“Specifically in respect of supply chain issues, we have spent time and resource expanding the supply chains into new geographies, and building relationships on a global allowing us to tap into a much broader base of potential suppliers. We are also securing future stock through pre-orders and strong supplier relationships, which is only possible with a level of financial robustness that can carry the burden.”
