Advanced Chemical Etching – January Roundup

Our monthly roundup covers the latest news from ACE for the month of January, including the latest investments and expansions, our new website, press articles and exhibition announcements. Stay tuned over the coming months to stay up-to-date with all the latest from Advanced Chemical Etching.

ACE Sets Sights On Green Export Boost

A drive towards greener, more efficient automotive and aerospace technology is fuelling a predicted £800,000 revenue boost for Advanced Chemical Etching in 2020.

Automotive and aerospace manufacturers are looking to ever lighter, tougher materials and components when designing vehicles and aircraft. Reducing emissions means reducing weight, leading to an increased global demand for parts that are lighter, tougher and more precise than ever before.

ACE is leading the charge in innovative metal prototyping and components manufacturing technology, developing ever faster, efficient and precise acid etching processes. Thanks to last year’s £600,000 investment in our Telford facility, ACE have been able to dramatically increase output and now produce up to 2000 sheets per day.

“The parts we produce are very complex and there are not many firms with our capacity or capability,” explained Chris Ball, Executive Director at ACE.

“Our different etching processes have been developed to deliver the tightest of tolerances and over £600,000 has been invested in the last year in new equipment to ensure we can produce up to 2000 sheets per day…a massive increase on this time last year.”

He continued: “Automotive and aerospace are committed to reducing emissions and our technology lends itself to taking weight out of the equation, whether that is aircraft ice protection systems, heat shields or supporting new battery technology.”

“We’re already working on a number of projects that should come to fruition this year and have the potential to change the way cars, drones, space vehicles and aircraft are powered.”

ACE’s continued focus on research has led to the development of acid etching processes that push the boundaries of what is possible with prototyping and low volume production. This has informed a pivot towards what is predicted to be a major growth area for the business going forward.

New ACE Website And Branding

ACE have recently unveiled a huge branding and web overhaul as part of an ongoing digital strategy, including a new, responsive website.

Our newly revamped web presence reflects ACE’s focus on detail, with easy-to-navigate sections dedicated to each industry and sector we work with, our unique chemical etching processes, as well as an expansive knowledge base containing technical information, guides, case studies and white papers.

This push aims to support an ongoing campaign of expansion into new territories, industries and applications.

Ian Whateley, Managing Director, explains: “2020 is going to be a big year for our business and we’ve started by launching a new brand and website.
“Export is also a major target and we have set about increasing our number of agents in key territories, including Germany, the Netherlands and Asia. Supporting this will be the launch of international websites with their own international domains.”

Advanced Chemical Etching In The News

ACE recently featured in a Financial Times article discussing a rebound in optimism and investment within the UK manufacturing sectors following the end of an unsettled period in British politics.

British businesses large and small have been weathering a period of uncertainty in the wake of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union in 2016. Following that companies have held off on investment as the future of Britain’s trading relationship with the EU, as well as the political landscape domestically, is determined.

“Our order book has filled up for January since the election. Future investments had been on hold as we didn’t know who would be in charge for the next four or five years,” added Chris Ball, founder of ACE, who said that he would now sign off an investment in a new plant at a cost of £250,000. 

Key investments have been put in place to install new pre and post-cleaning machines to increase the speed of manufacturing prototype sheet metal parts at the Telford facility, while new auto-loaders have been added to the lines, in a bid to move to ‘lights-out manufacturing’ in some phases of sheet metal fabrication.

Upcoming Events And Exhibitions In 2020

Advanced Chemical Etching will be attending a number of industry events and exhibitions in 2020, taking chemical etching and high-precision metal components on the road both nationally and internationally.

The year kicked off with the Loughborough University Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Showcase, where ACE’s engineers demonstrated the applications of chemical etching and metal prototyping for fuel cell technology. Of notable interest was the level of efficiency and detail possible in chemically etched parts; micro-etched cooling channels being a key feature of bipolar fuel cell plates.

From March 31st – April 2nd ACE will be exhibiting at Medtec Live 2020 in Nüremberg, Germany. Chemical etching has a number of unique applications within medical technology including acid etching titanium to produce implants such as stress-free titanium membranes and cranial mesh implants. ACE will be showcasing our highly complex meshes and the range of innovative utilizations possible for medical devices and instruments when chemical etching titanium and other medical-grade metals.

Advanced Chemical Etching will be exhibiting at Vehicle Electrification Expo 2020 on the 8th and 9th of July at the NAEC in Stoneleigh, Coventry. The event is focused on bringing efficiency, performance and sustainability to passenger cars, commercial and industrial vehicles by leveraging the latest in electric and hybrid vehicle technology. ACE will be there to showcase the range of components acid etching can produce for the electric vehicle sector ranging from battery interconnects, fuel cell and cooling plates, kinetic energy recovery system components and electric vehicle bus bars.

Finally, Advanced Chemical etching will be taking our chemical etching exhibition to Veldhoven, The Netherlands for Precisiebeurs (Precision Fair) 2020, the annual meeting point for precision technology. We look forward to discussing the applications for acid etching technology on scientific advancement and how precision processes such as molecular titanium etching can turn science into process.

In the coming months, we will announce further dates and venues for exhibitions taking place in 2020. Stay tuned to our social media and website for updates and announcements from ACE.

No matter your requirements, our expert team will work with you to produce the high performance, lightweight and reliable parts you need. Contact ACE today on +44 (0)1952 416 666 or email sales@ace-uk.net for an initial consultation.