Targeting opportunities with the major aerospace primes has seen a Lancashire manufacturing specialist invest £1.2m into state-of-the-art CNC technologies.

TGM, which is part of the £43m Aero Services Global (AS.G) Group, has just completed its first parts for a MoD contract on its recently installed Zimmermann FZ33 compact milling machine.

The long bed capabilities, machine dynamics, 30,000 RPM and fast cycle times are perfect for creating complex components to the exacting standards required by the aerospace and defence sectors.

This investment will provide the company with additional capability to take on more than £2m of new work annually, as well as allowing it to tender for work on larger structural assemblies.

Sarah Stephens, Director at TGM, commented: “Traditionally we have provided 3, 4 and 5-axis machined components to aerospace tier 1s and this is still a core market, but we now have the technology, processes and skills in place to work directly with the primes.

“The Zimmermann is a fantastic machine and is the largest out of all of the 18-strong CNC machine tools we currently have at our Preston facility. An initial package of work is already in production on the Zimmermann and there are plenty of opportunities we are currently exploring that could fill up capacity.

With this additional technology, we are hoping to double sales from £3m to £6m over the next two years.

TGM, which became part of AS.G in 2016, specialises in the machining of both hard and soft metals, producing components and sub-assemblies for customers supplying Airbus and BAE Systems.

Continued investment in processes, upgrading operational efficiencies and upskilling of its workforce has helped it achieve world class manufacturing (99.85%) and delivery (99.16%) performance and the Bronze SC21 award for the third successive year.

The company’s core engineering skills have also been further boosted by the introduction of CATIA V5 CAD design packages and inspection software to ensure a total end-to-end solution for the customer.

Sarah added: “The first package of work for the Zimmermann is worth £1.4m to our business over two years and is the type of contract we are now looking to secure.

“It’s all about positioning TGM as a strategic critical partner to the primes and ensuring we can add value at every part of the process. This wouldn’t have been possible three years ago, but a combination of the investment, industry approvals and a track record of quality and delivery has paved the way.

“Covid-19 has brought its own challenges, but we feel we are in a good position to come through the pandemic and proactively establish our new position in the supply chain.”