Drilling out a bolt in a gas turbine during repair is very skilled -- one slip and a component costing £200k to replace can be destroyed. If the fastener cannot be removed a whole new assembly may be required and the materials will be wasted.

The worker in the nuclear decommissioning plant enters the radiation area with a spanner in their hand. They approach the fastener being removed and undo it one quarter turn. They then immediately leave the area -- that's their annual radiation exposure allowance used. 59 more operators will go in and do the same thing before the fastener is released.

Having reached the working area of the wind turbine 150m above sea level, the technician finds that the bolt needing removal is seized. To complete the repair, the bolt must be drilled out while the operator is suspended over the sea, pushing against the drill to ensure it cuts through the bolt.

These tasks require a faster, safer and customised solution to modernise the process of engineering system maintenance. FastEDR is an advanced tooling platform that effectively dissolves fasteners (nuts, bolts, screw and rivets, etc.), allowing disassembly in safer conditions and with no damage to the components of the product. During use it requires no need to apply mechanical force and produces no environmentally damaging waste. FastEDR can be delivered by robots in areas hostile to humans such as in close proximity to nuclear reactors. Sophisticated software controls and custom designed components mean that FastEDR can be operated by anyone with less than an hour of training. FastEDR allows fastener removal at low safety risk to people and at low cost to customers. We will reduce the environmental impact of UK manufacturing by ensuring that serviceable parts remain in the supply-chain and extending the life of large engineering systems such as gas turbine engines and wind turbines.