Pushing the boundaries of innovation

According to Goodfellow Cambridge’s CEO, Simon Kenney, it’s all about delivering innovation – and this is where his company comes in. Aerospace Manufacturing reports.

Goodfellow Cambridge is a supplier of specialist metals and materials to the scientific and industrial manufacturing sectors and has partnered with many businesses to support their R&D departments.

Q) Firstly, bring me up to speed with your latest news regarding any new product introductions?

Goodfellow Cambridge has recently introduced several new products, including: A composite material consisting of graphene, which boasts remarkable mechanical properties, along with outstanding biocompatibility. Our exclusive range of products, Hastalex and BioHastalex, are only available to our 6,000-strong customer base.

Goodfellow Cambridge is also offering a range of ultrafine metal wires with a diameter of less than 1µm. These wires are coated with borosilicate glass, and the type of coating depends on the wire metal and its diameter. This product is especially in demand from clients striving for miniaturisation and the growing demand for smaller and more complex devices.

We recently announced the launch of customised alloy powders that will be of significant interest to designers and engineers searching for more intricate and lighter components. Allowing greater alloy composition, particle size and increased flexibility in batch quantity, the new customised alloy powders will also include High-Entropy Alloys (HEA) that boast superior properties critical for future material innovations, including structural jet engines.

The exceptional characteristics offer great strength and hardness, excellent corrosion/fatigue/fracture and irradiation resistance and good thermal stability, as well as good ductility and magnetic properties.

These three introductions are reflective of how we are continually analysing industry trends and delivering new, optimal solutions to our customers. As a rapidly expanding company, we will enhance our capabilities at our Ermine Business Park facility in Huntingdon and continue to invest in our 100-strong workforce.

Q) What kinds of demands are placed on you when it comes to materials selection?

Most of the materials we supply for the aerospace sector are destined for R&D activities, where our solutions solve a complex problem or a major concern. Often there is no perfect material with all the required properties or further testing is required, so there can be significant work and collaboration between our materials scientists in our technical team and the technical specialists at our customer.

Throughout this process, the commercial availability and considerations of the products offered are always based on the potential manufacturing requirements. Along with the materials selection, the manufacturing technique and selection of the most appropriate processing is also a key factor.

Customers in composite and aerospace manufacturing often demand raw and finished materials that meet specific requirements regarding length, weight, cross-section, shape, traceability, and global/local regulations. In addition, they may require materials that can withstand certain environmental conditions, such as high temperatures or exposure to corrosive substances and all must meet aerospace quality standards.

Goodfellow Cambridge maintains a comprehensive database and a broad network of industry partners to ensure we offer more than 100 different materials to our customers.

Q) Can you provide any typical examples where your products have shone over competitor offerings?

Typically, what we find is that by asking the right questions and understanding the customer application, we begin to partner with them to provide technical solutions that outcompete our domestic and international rivals. This is supported by investment in our six-strong technical team, led by Dr Aphrodite Tomou, and our commitment to the ISO 9001 quality accreditation that governs all our products.

Goodfellow Cambridge is also dedicated to creating innovative products that meet the unique needs of our clients. We are constantly striving to fill gaps in the market by developing materials that offer a unique combination of properties or capabilities not traditionally found in existing products. So, in a nutshell, our differentiator is the ability and willingness to go above and beyond in the understanding of the application to provide the best outcome and advice on materials.

Q) Are you membered in to any industry organisations/clusters and are they any good?

We are accredited to JOSCAR, a collaborative tool used by the aerospace, defence and security sectors to determine if a supplier is ‘fit for business’. This opens doors for us and gives our customers the confidence we deliver the quality materials they require.

Goodfellow Cambridge is also a member of Make UK, which is a great champion for UK manufacturing and, importantly, in making sure our challenges and opportunities are heard by Government. Finally, we are a member of the BSI UK graphene group.

Q) Is there a particular success story you can shout?

One of the biggest recent breakthroughs in clean energy took place in December, when researchers confirmed that they have overcome one of the major barriers to producing clean energy from fusion. In layman’s terms this means that researchers produced more energy from the breakthrough experiment than was put in and gave the scientific world the encouragement required to push forward with a new way of fuelling society.

This generated headlines in pretty much every country across the globe. However, what many people don’t realise is the role we played in this ‘world first’. Due to a non-disclosure agreement, we can’t give too many details, but what I can tell you is that we worked with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California to supply specific material in a really short timeframe. It is a great success for the National Ignition Facility at LLNL. This is the breakthrough everybody has been waiting for and it is exciting to have played a small, yet critical part in supporting them on their journey to this discovery.

Q) Where to next for your company?

The Nuclear Fusion Experiment is a perfect example of the type of work that is driving Goodfellow Cambridge’s growth following its acquisition by Battery Ventures in September 2021. Located in a 40,000ft² facility on Ermine Business Park, the company has enjoyed two years of strong growth, increasing its range of alloys, metals, ceramics, polymers, compounds and composites every month.

These products tend to be used in the R&D and scientific sectors in the development of new technologies that will eventually be seen in the next generation of cars, aircraft, spaceships, and life-saving medical devices.

An ever-increasing arsenal to support our existing clients and attract new ones is critical and this dual approach will help us meet our target of 10% growth in 2023, taking sales past £23 million for the first time in our 77-year history.

Pushing the boundaries of innovation in R&D and science is what we will continue to do, and this drive will be complemented by a proactive merger and acquisition strategy.

Q) Finally, any other business?

Unlike many of our rivals, Goodfellow has a comprehensive production capability to call upon to help it customise the materials it supplies. Continual investment in a dedicated workshop allows it to offer precision machining, forming, coating and surface treatment, ensuring clients can receive their material and metals in the size and finish they require to go straight into their prototyping and production cycles.

www.goodfellow.com