This report was released around December 2003, following a workshop held at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and was on European R&D in Additive/Subtractive Manufacturing.

For further information, please access http://www.wtec.org/reports.htm

The injection moulding industry has a large presence in the Leiria region of Portugal. It primarily serves the automotive, aerospace, and consumer products markets. Companies are competitive throughout Europe and on a global scale, but are increasingly pressured by countries with lower cost structures (e.g., China). In response, the industry has taken some dramatic steps to increase its competitiveness.

One notable step is to form a consortium of over 50 companies and to develop meeting, office, and laboratory facilities to support interactions among member companies. The consortium is called CENTIMFE. In its facilities are meeting spaces where some university courses are offered, as well as machining, rapid prototyping, and moulding equipment. It has a new Sinterstation 2500 to support its efforts in prototyping and rapid tooling.

CENTIFME members are involved in research activities. An employee of one of the member companies authored one paper at the VRAP conference. The paper was on the generation of finite element meshes from STL files of parts. This work represents the sophistication of engineering and moulding practice that is becoming common in the Leiria region.