3D 360 Skills Training is offering Lancashire businesses places on its 3D Printing, 3D CAD and Industry 4.0 bootcamp, open to people who live or work in the county. The course is aimed well beyond manufacturing, giving architects, retailers, estates teams, schools and charities a way to design and make physical objects in-house.

Design practices can produce hand-held client models, retail and marketing teams can print displays and props, and maintenance teams can recreate parts that manufacturers no longer supply. Start-ups can move from idea to test prototype within hours instead of waiting on external suppliers.

Learners practise designing parts, tools and products in 3D CAD software, moving ideas to in-house prototypes, producing jigs, fixtures and spare parts on demand to limit downtime, and assessing where AI, the Internet of Things, virtual and augmented reality and big data could fit their operations.

3D 360 Skills Training is a Leigh-based training provider and engineering consultancy in additive manufacturing and 3D CAD, incorporated in 2020 and led by managing director Paul Bullock. Its industry directory profile lists training delivery across Lancashire, Cumbria, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.

Employers pay a subsidised contribution for staff places, with employees taking part at no cost to themselves, while eligible self-employed people, schools, community groups and charities can attend free.

The structural driver is the cost of outsourcing prototypes and parts, with 3D 360 positioning in-house printing as a way to shorten lead times and reduce bought-in components for firms of any size and sector.

Paul Bullock, managing director of 3D 360 Skills Training, said people are "often surprised by who comes through our doors," with engineers, designers, retailers, teachers and charity staff all leaving able to "design something and print it."

Bullock said employers gain "faster prototypes, fewer bought-in parts" and a team member who brings new ideas back into the business.

For the sector, the bootcamp confirms that additive manufacturing training is widening from engineering teams to design, retail, education and charity users who need practical fabrication skills.

Source: lancashirebusinessview.co.uk / company-information.service.gov.uk / aerospace.co.uk