Member Article

Basingstoke metals firm relaunches as market interest in its products surges

New name, new management team and new potential for light, stiff and strong ’AMC’ material, produced at Prisma Business Park

Having recently won a series of new contracts in the aerospace, defence and automotive industries for its unique AMC (aluminium matrix composite) technology, a new Basingstoke company, Alvant, launches today (June 12th 2018).

Alvant, formerly Composite Metal Technology (CMT), has experienced a steep rise in demand for its products in the past year, both nationally and internationally. The company has been selected to help develop the latest generation aircraft landing gear by a major technology company and is working on projects with Rolls Royce, Ford and GE Aviation, among others. More contracts are expected to be announced shortly.

“Commercial readiness of Alvant’s products comes at a time of increasing demand for strong, yet lightweight, components in transport and defence, industrial processes and high-end consumer products. AMCs provide the strength and stiffness of steel at less than half the weight. They are also offer good damage tolerance and a higher thermal operating range,” explains John Bonas, managing director of Alvant. “Here in Basingstoke, we are able to help design engineers from a range of industries find ways to increase their products’ capabilities and performance while meeting ambitious goals for fuel efficiency and sustainability.”

Alvant has a staff of 14 people including a management team that was revitalised in 2017 through a combination of internal promotions and external appointments. The company operates from industrial premises on the Prisma Business Park in Basingstoke, Hampshire, where it has three factory units, with a total floor area of 7,5000 sq ft, adjacent to its 1,800 sq ft offices. Alvant’s first factory unit accommodates casting machines and foundry equipment, the second factory unit contains secondary processing machinery, and the third unit houses materials analysis and testing laboratories. The company manufactures AMCs using a proprietary Advanced Liquid Pressure Forming (ALPF) process.

Alvant Ltd was established as Composite Metal Technology Ltd (CMT) in 2003 and renamed in 2018. It is an advanced materials technology company, specialising in the design and manufacture of aluminium-based Metal Matrix Composites (AMCs), manufactured using an Advanced Liquid Pressure Forming (ALPF) process. The key benefits of using AMCs over unreinforced metals are improved strength, higher stiffness, reduced weight, improved wear resistance and a lower coefficient of thermal and electrical conductivity.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Laura Biss .