Growing fast to meet demand

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In response to the increased demand for high performance composites, last year advanced composites manufacturer, Pentaxia made the move to larger premises in Derby. Managing director, Stephen Ollier explains how Pentaxia is investing in its people and its facility to be ready for rapid growth.

One of the most influential factors on the demand for advanced manufacturing is the shift towards a low carbon economy, impacting the way in which we think about how we produce our goods and transport ourselves.

Because of this, industry is increasingly looking to use advanced composites in more durable, lightweight and higher performance products. The National Composites Centre predicts huge growth in the sector, so we have made ambitious investments to secure our future in this demanding climate. We have invested £1.5 million into a larger facility that will enable us to grow our team of specialist engineers, increase our production capabilities and install more state-of-the-art equipment.

A dynamic strategy

Last year the business experienced 60% growth, a clear signal that we needed to increase our capacity to meet demand in the sector. Because Pentaxia is family-run and privately-owned, we can deploy a dynamic approach to our investment strategy, expansion and growth. Without the restriction of a multitiered expenditure approval process, we are able to react quickly to new business opportunities.

Pentaxia’s goal is to be the best advanced manufacturer in the UK

A large proportion of our work is within the aerospace and luxury automotive markets. Our exacting quality standards, consistent throughout each service from design to surface coating, has led to orders from top design houses to produce luxury automotive body components and structures. We recently completed a time sensitive supercar project, producing 59 component parts in 12 weeks for the Geneva Motorshow. A challenging brief such as this gave us an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of a complete composites solution all under one roof.

Pentaxia is a company that will always looks to push forward and embrace new opportunities. Founded as machining specialists, we are highly experienced in machining a large range of materials, enabling us to meet the needs of our current markets and provide scope to develop further into emerging sectors such as energy, construction and defence. The rail industry is also a key specifier of fibre-reinforced polymer composites for use in vehicles, modules, interiors and platforms and we look to expand our work in this sector as we continue to grow. A large percentage of our work is in aerospace, a mix of on-aircraft components and tooling, particularly related to specialist interiors. We’ve also seen significant growth in the supply of components to front of the grid F1 teams and the leading engine suppliers.

Lasting client relationships

We enjoy working closely with our customers and feel that our manufacturing knowledge can often add real value during the development phase of a project. We are at our best when we are given the opportunity to completely develop a solution. Our dedicated design team has a wealth of experience to create bespoke tooling solutions and offers valuable support to optimise tooling design. We ensure that quality is monitored and sustained at every stage of the manufacturing process and can offer our clients a proof part service with a full inspection report. In our experience, this level of service keeps our clients informed and confident that the components meet their exacting standards and requirements.

We looked at how we could work more effectively to save our customers time and money and decided to bring all services together under one roof. Our new, larger facility has enabled us to create a flow of activity with improved communication between departments. This set up has also helped us to optimise order fulfilment and provide predictability to our blue-chip customers. By consistently meeting an expected level of performance, we are able to spend more time establishing a relationship with customers, creating a bespoke service based on individual client needs.

Investing in talent

We’ve built a strong management team who are keen to expand and push forward with new ideas in order to meet growing demand from our customers. Last year we welcomed Russ Meddes as our business development director, bringing with him more than 30 years’ experience of technical management in multidisciplinary teams throughout the UK. Business development is an integral part of our company and Russ’s appointment will help to develop the right technologies in order to offer customers the services they need.

A large percentage of Pentaxia’s is a mix of on-aircraft components and tooling

Now that we are established in our new 70,000ft2 facility, we are keen to strengthen our highly skilled team so that we can increase our production capability. We are currently in the process of growing our workforce across multiple areas of the business as we expand into new sales territories in the UK and internationally. As a company, we are passionate about the development of talent in the industry and we are committed to providing both apprenticeship training and development opportunities for employees. Our family business mentality means that we truly care about and value our employees and that is why we try to invest in all our staff, so that as the company grows, they can grow with it.

Equipped with the best

From the start we set out to invest in the latest machines and equipment. Our goal is to be the best advanced manufacturer in the UK and for us this means providing our customers with cutting edge technology handled by highly skilled, knowledgeable engineers.

With an expansive new facility, we plan to introduce a state-of-the-art aerospace technology centre, as well as a new R&D hub and a specialist advanced manufacturing facility. The installation of the latest manufacturing equipment will double our existing production capability and put Pentaxia at the forefront of advanced composites manufacturing in the region. We’re always pushing to broaden the scope of what we do and believe our capability is a major differentiator in a market where the technology is continuously changing and developing.

www.pentaxia.com

Company

Pentaxia

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