Metal forming and forging – finding a new place within high value manufacturing through advanced, industrial scale research

Since the banking crisis governments have placed renewed emphasis on the importance of manufacturing in providing the basis for a balanced economy. The term High Value Manufacturing (HVM) has been used in the UK to describe manufacturing based industries with a high R&D content and therefore which in turn will support knowledge based job creation into the future. The UK Government has supported the development of a network of manufacturing research centres aimed at providing a step change in research and development activity and impact termed the HVM Catapult. The Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) within the University of Strathclyde is a founder member of the HVM Catapult, with a focus on metal forming and forging technologies.To outsiders however, forming and forging are established technologies employed within traditional, and in many cases declining, manufacturing environments whose roots can be traced back to the industrial revolution and beyond. It is not surprising, therefore, that the position of metal deformation technologies within the HVM taxonomy is sometimes questioned. This paper aims to address the common arguments which are used to question the position of metal forming and forging within HVM at a general level, and through examples of ongoing work themes with the AFRC.