The motor industry could be revolutionised by technology developed at Oxford University, says a new spin-off company.

Novarc, based at Begbroke Science Park, said its rapid tooling process could reduce the time taken to develop new car models by as much as five months and save the industry millions of pounds.

Dr David Field, left, with Herb Askew, of Oxford University's technology transfer company Isis Innovation

It was set up following a multi-million pound investment by one of the country's leading merchant banks, Beeson Gregory, plus money from Oxford University and Ford.

Novarc is pioneering a technique known as sprayforming to create dies and tools for the production of car parts, as well as other objects, by spraying molten steel on to a mould.

The technology was originally developed by Dr Dick Jordan, whose Swansea company was bought by Ford. The car company paid for the research to be taken forward at Oxford University's Department of Materials. Novarc has now bought the patent from Ford. Novarc's managing director, Dr David Field, said he had worked with Dr Jordan at Alcan in Banbury 20 years ago and was delighted to be spearheading the commercialisation of the technology. Dr Jordan is Novarc's technical director.

Dr Field said: "This is an exciting time for us all at Novarc. With the support of organisations such as Ford and Isis, we will be able to capitalise on the tremendous global opportunities for both finished tooling and the supply of integrated turnkey systems. In time, this will lead to the need for a larger workforce and therefore job opportunities in the Oxford area."

Traditionally, machine tools are made from steel and have to be made from a mould in a cumbersome process which takes up to 20 weeks.

With sprayforming, once a part has been designed by computer, a ceramic cast is made, which is sprayed with molten steel by an automated robot.

This creates a thick, uniform shell which is ready for use within four weeks of the part being designed.