Dean Group, an investment casting company based in Irlam, Greater Manchester, has invested £200,000 in new technology to future-proof their investment casting facility. This includes a brand-new 3D printing machine.
This first phase of investment showcases the company’s desire to improve the services it offers, meet clients’ requirements, and speed up the time to market.
After the difficult period manufacturers like Dean Group have experienced, the focus is now on recovery and continuing with the pre-pandemic strategy. Since the pandemic, Dean Group has recognised the demand for UK manufacturing, especially now that we’re seeing the industry bounce back.
Christopher Dean, Chairman, says: “Demand used to fall more heavily on Chinese manufacturing because it was cheaper but, now, it takes longer for products to arrive in the UK and it’s not as cost-efficient as it used to be. People can’t wait that long anymore, especially in today’s climate, so a more local manufacturing ensures a faster turnaround.”
Dean Group’s new 3D printer allows the company to offer rapid prototyping to help businesses to save money and time – and to stay competitive, whether they’re big or small.
The printer offers high definition and resolution, providing a high degree of accuracy that is crucial in investment casting. This allows Dean Group to find issues in prototypes before a component goes into production. Parts can be tweaked early on and designs can be compared to better understand how a component will behave once manufactured, and so on.
The printer, among their other technological investments, helps the company to complete customer’s orders faster and more efficiently, and without ever compromising on quality.
Christopher Dean says: “In order to keep providing excellent service, meeting our customers’ needs and cutting down lead time, an investment in technology is crucial. It helps our clients to save time and money as well, since changes to designs can be made before even introducing hard tools and we can test several concepts before deciding on the one that works best.
“Our investment in technology also allows us to be more proactive, helps us to make work more streamlined and helps us to increase our future offerings.”
