Shipston firm’s seven-year journey from a small garage to King’s Award recipients
A YOUNG south Warwickshire company founded by an equally young entrepreneur received royal recognition last Friday in the form of the King’s Award for Enterprise.
RYSE 3D, based in Shipston, develops new materials to create moulds that can be used to make components for production processes.
It was formed in 2017 by Mitchell Barnes in a small garage with one homemade 3D printer, with him often working through the night printing 3D models for fellow university students.
Today, the company occupies an 8,000 sq ft facility on the Europipes Estate in Tilemans Lane, with a growing skilled team and industry-leading custom-developed technology.
Mr Barnes, who celebrated his 28th birthday earlier this year, is one of the youngest managing directors to achieve the award which was presented to him by the Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Tim Cox, on behalf of the King.
Mr Barnes said: “This has been some journey. From replacing my mum’s washing machines in the garage with a few DIY 3D printers to create models at university, to setting up a world class 3D printing factory in Warwickshire and winning one of the hardest to achieve business awards in the world.
“Forty per cent of our work is now going overseas and this figure is set to grow, with interest coming from five different continents.
“The King’s Award for Enterprise will help reinforce this international expansion and will certainly open new doors for us when pitching to large original equipment manufacturers, car makers and potential customers in aviation, renewables and the MedTech sector.
“It’s also a massive external ‘well done’ to our 14-strong workforce. We’ve had to grow quickly and some of our staff have been taken from coffee shops and local bars and trained into skilled engineers on the job. This award is for them more than anyone else.”
RYSE 3D is transforming the world of additive manufacturing after securing a string of global contract wins.
The firm is now involved in 14 hypercar projects, providing parts ranging from full heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems to brake ducts and wing mirror vision systems for next generation vehicles.
It is now a multi-million-pound business, with ambitious expansion plans in place to expand across the globe with the roll-out of its technologies.
“Our mission at Ryse 3D is to lead the world in production 3D printing and the development of production 3D printing technologies that are scalable and cost effective,” said Mr Barnes.
“We are changing perceptions that this form of manufacturing should only be used to prototype or sample parts in the process.”
“Over £1 million has been invested into our modern facility in Warwickshire, with a plan in place to double capacity using Ryse 3D in-house developed printers in the next few months, becoming a technology hub for the UK – this will give us the capacity to handle millions of parts per year and this figure is growing.”
He continued: “Our ability to optimise parts and use 3D printed production components to replace costlier alternatives has opened doors with some of the world’s biggest automotive names, not to mention innovative projects with motorcycle manufacturers, last mile delivery providers and other emerging sectors.
“These wins have helped us expand rapidly and we now have a team of technical experts in place that support the customer with design for manufacture, material selection and project management. It’s a combination that is proving extremely popular overseas too, with 40 per cent of our work exported.”
Ryse 3D offers customers next or same day production and prototype solutions, with structured advice and support. Its 3D manufacturing technologies use exciting materials, such as plant-based engineering grade nylon that is made from 100 per cent castor beans. This offers a long service life and fits perfectly with the company’s eco-conscious strategy.
Parts can be as small as 1mm by 1mm and go as large as the customer requires thanks to the firm’s 100 per cent same material part fusing process.
