DeepForm is pioneering production processes for car – and other manufacturers – that are more efficient and more environmentally friendly.
Suited to a wide range of steel and aluminium panels, this innovative sheet metal forming technology provides a new way to press sheet metal for car parts and other applications.
Around 44% of metal used to make the body of a car is trimmed off and scrapped. Reducing waste by up to 80%, DeepForm’s technology lowers the cost and CO2 emissions in the manufacturing process.
“Our technology brings both carbon savings and significant cost avoidance, and as a drop-in to existing production lines the barrier to adoption is not so high.”
Waste reduction for automotive metal forming
A spinout from the Department of Engineering under the UK FIRES project, DeepForm has developed novel stamping tool designs for automotive and other high-volume customers following a decade of research led by Professor Julian Allwood, Christopher Cleaver, and Adam Nagy-Sochacki.
Founded in early 2022 by Chris Cleaver and Julian Allwood, DeepForm is commercialising its new stamping tool technology that drops into current production lines, dramatically reducing the need for excess perimeter material and cutting waste by over 75%.
Chris Cleaver, the Chief Executive of DeepForm and a Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellow, was previously a senior researcher at the University of Cambridge, working on novel manufacturing processes for improved resource efficiency. Professor Julian Allwood is a Non-Executive Director at DeepForm and leads the Use Less Group, a collection of world-leading researchers focused on the sustainable use of materials, energy, and resources at the University of Cambridge.
In June 2024, DeepForm raised £2 million in seed funding to advance its innovative technology for saving material and reducing CO2 emissions in the automotive industry. This seed fund was led by Parkwalk Advisors in cooperation with Cambridge Enterprise Ventures.
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