In England, The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre reported it has acquired Castings Technology International and its affiliate Titanium Castings UK Ltd. The value of the purchase — which includes the buildings and assets of CTI and TCUK, as well as ongoing research, commercial contracts, and assets — was not reported.
Both organizations are located at the Advanced Manufacturing Park, a research campus in Rotherham where CTI relocated to a new headquarters in 2009.
“This is a real win-win situation for our members and staff,” according to CTI chairman Tom Westley. “Our members will continue to receive all the services they have always enjoyed, but with the much enhanced resources of the University of Sheffield to support an ambitious expansion of our activities on the Advanced Manufacturing Park.
The University of Sheffield AMRC is an industrial/academic consortium that manages technology development programs, including the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing, among several more.
The buyer plans to expand its research capabilities to include castings technology. It said adding the metalcasting capabilities of CTI and TCUK to its portfolio of expertise would allow it to offer those technologies to its industrial partners.
“The AMRC plays a major role in supporting the U.K.’s advanced manufacturing industry and with it the economic growth and skills which are so vital to our economy,” stated Professor Keith Ridgway CBE who founded the AMRC.
"Acquiring CTI will complement our existing strengths and provide another important aspect to our work with industry,” Ridgway continued. “Set in the context of the AMRC’s overall vision to be the world’s leading manufacturing technology research center, CTI is a core element which sits alongside the AMRC with Boeing, Nuclear AMRC, Design Prototype and Test Centre, apprentice Training Centre, Namtec, and the reconfigurable Factory 2050.”
CTI has been a membership-based research organization with capabilities in casting design, material development and selection, manufacturing technologies, quality control, and testing and performance. Members include metalcasters, casting industry suppliers, and casting customers.
“Foundry member companies will benefit from a strong and regular dialogue with castings users from all over the world. Major OEMs will be working with us to ensure developments are focused to their needs and take full advantage of these world-class facilities,” CTI’s Westley added. “The staff will benefit from an accelerated investment program, which would not have been possible had CTI remained on its own.”
Among CTI’s developments is the Replicast investment casting technology, the Repliwax process for producing lightweight ceramic shell molds, and various improvements in titanium casting processes.
Longtime CTI chief executive Mike Ashton retired earlier this year. University of Sheffield AMRC said the staffs of CTI and TCUK will be transferred to a new, University of Sheffield subsidiary company.