BA Systems have recently been able to invest in laser welding equipment and design automation software with the assistance of the Growth Through Innovation Fund.

The New Anglia Growth Through Innovation Fund, which is partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund, was secured earlier this year with the assistance of the New Anglia local enterprise partnership for Norfolk and Suffolk.

Construction is becoming more fast paced; site changes and speed of construction is such that ordering of metalwork items is often left until too late. Design of these products is always the constraint in any construction related process and speed of pricing and issuing of designs for approval will be key to offering a service that can match site requirements.

Non-conformances in design have a big environmental impact with increased transport needs and is an on going waste of resources. Construction is an industry particularly vulnerable to change and changes that are not correctly communicated lead to product not fitting when it arrives to site. This means the product has to be disposed of and re manufactured.

The grant for the project will enable significant development in the design and fabrication of wind posts and other stainless steel pre fabricated products for the construction industry. Automated design will reduce lead times dramatically on basic construction products and enable quicker flow of materials to site.

The second element to the project involved the use of laser welding equipment. Laser welding is a much more efficient and a faster welding process than traditional Tig or Mig welding and is up to 10 times as fast in most instances. Fewer skills are needed with laser welding than traditional welding and it is a cleaner process with much less environmental impact. It introduces no filler or slag that could contaminate environments as with traditional welding processes. The faster and more accurate process will also mean lower energy usage.

We are delighted that this project has been funded and completed, giving us the confidence to take on projects that previously would not have been possible. A huge thanks to the ‘Growth Through Innovation Fund’ for their support.

To find out more about our manufacturing processes at BA Systems you can read about our process here