UK NEWS

SUCCESSFUL TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS MEAN GOING THE EXTRA MILE

The outbreak of a devastating fire in April 2025 could have spelt curtains for Western Pegasus, a Birmingham-based precision engineering company specialising in high-accuracy and customised spline gauges, master gears and spline-related inspection gauging. 

Instead, through the leadership and dogged determination of company president Andy Wincel, the dedication of its 40-strong workforce, immediate financial support from its bank and strong business partnerships – most notably with United Machining – the company was back up and running within three months. 

United Machining, a manufacturer and supplier of EDM, milling, additive manufacturing and laser texturing machine tools – as well as automation, software and tooling systems – recently supplied Western Pegasus with three new AgieCharmilles wire EDM machines. 

The machines, a CUT 2000 and two CUT 1000 models, are now in situ at Western Pegasus’ new Kitts Green facility. The company relocated there following the major fire, which destroyed its original Tyseley plant of 40 years. 

The three machines, funded in part through an £850,000 overdraft facility followed by a £1.2m funding package from HSBC UK, have replaced AgieCharmilles EDM machines rendered unusable by the Easter Sunday fire. 

“Supporting Western Pegasus through such challenging times has been a highly rewarding experience,” says Steve Eames, relationship manager at HSBC UK. “We acted quickly to support the company’s recovery, and the resilience shown by the team was remarkable. It’s fantastic to see the business thriving.” 

Western Pegasus has built strong relationships with United Machining, previously GF Machining Solutions, over many years, with the company investing regularly in high-end wire EDM technology to increase capacity and capability. 

Says Wincel: “These machines are renowned for delivering consistent and repeatable high accuracies and superior surface finishes, making them our technology of choice.” 

The gauge and gear inspection equipment manufactured by Western Pegasus is specified globally by the automotive, aerospace, marine and agricultural industries. The equipment measures the dimensional accuracy and geometric tolerances of gear teeth, including tooth profiles, pitch deviations, thickness and size, lead and helix angles, and runout. 

Accuracy is non-negotiable, with gear tooth flanges and profiles requiring tolerances better than ±2 µm. This is why Western Pegasus has continued to invest in AgieCharmilles wire EDM technology. Featuring technologies including Intelligent Spark Protection (ISPS), iWire, the Uniqua iHMI interface and Automatic Wire Change (AWC), the machines combine high precision with fast processing speeds, flexibility and reliability. 

Armed with advanced machine tool technology, proven manufacturing processes and an experienced workforce, Western Pegasus was geared up for further growth. Then the fire started in an adjacent factory. 

“One of the most advanced wire EDM facilities in the UK was destroyed,” declares Wincel. 

The situation was made even more difficult by the fact that the fire broke out on Easter Sunday, disrupting communications, while Wincel was thousands of miles away at home in Australia. 

“You wouldn’t wish it on your worst enemy,” he says. “Dealing with loss adjusters, assessors and insurance claims is one thing, but when you add a workforce understandably wondering whether they still have jobs, as well as customers asking about the status of their work, the situation was fraught, to put it mildly. 

“We lost a lot. Our servers and IT equipment went up in smoke. Our machine tools and ancillary technologies were severely compromised. All our records, documentation and work in progress were gone too.” 

Despite the devastation, Wincel decided not to call it quits and instead began planning the rebirth of Western Pegasus. A warehouse facility he had previously acquired at Kitts Green, around 16 miles from the damaged Tyseley factory, was selected as the company’s new home. 

“We wanted to become operational as soon as possible,” he remarks. “However, it was important that we did things methodically and clinically.” 

The transformation was substantial. As well as assessing and removing what equipment could be salvaged from the old site, the Kitts Green premises required complete modernisation. The work included cleaning and clearing the building, upgrading electrics and plumbing, installing new floors and a roof, creating offices and toilets, designing a temperature-controlled machine shop and constructing an accredited inspection laboratory. It was a monumental undertaking, made even more challenging by the tight timescale. 

“I contacted United Machining UK’s managing director, Martin Spencer, to see if he could assist us in acquiring a number of advanced wire EDM machines in double-quick time.” 

Western Pegasus had previously acquired 10 AgieCharmilles wire EDM machines and two System 3R automation systems from United Machining. The fire had left the equipment unfit for purpose. 

“United Machining was our first port of call and fortunately the company mobilised its resources to help us out.” 

Adds Spencer: “First and foremost, we wanted to help. Western Pegasus is a loyal customer and we believed that Andy and his team, with the right support, could turn it around and make a success of things. 

“Having spoken to Andy about his immediate requirements, we identified the type and number of new AgieCharmilles wire EDM machines needed to restart machining operations: a CUT 2000 and two CUT 1000 models.” 

However, there was a problem. Machines such as the CUT 1000 and CUT 2000 are built to order rather than held in stock. The urgency of Western Pegasus’ situation therefore triggered an international response, with AgieCharmilles’ manufacturing facility in Zandone, Switzerland, marshalling its resources to build the three replacement machines in record time. 

“It was a real collaborative effort,” says Spencer. “It demonstrated how United Machining is able and willing to pull out all the stops for its customers.” 

Starting in June, the three wire EDM machines were delivered and installed individually at Western Pegasus’ new facility over a period of just six weeks. This rapid response enabled production to resume while the wider relocation and building programme continued. 

“When you’re up against it, you really find out who your partners are,” says Wincel. “United Machining pulled out all the stops for us. They helped us clear the old site, arrange safe storage of equipment, identify where and how we could acquire three new machines, and organise delivery and installation around our building schedule. 

“They also provided expert applications and logistics advice and support, enabling us to hit the ground running. The fire completely took out our manufacturing operations, but in just 10 weeks we were back in business. We simply could not have achieved this without United Machining and its suppliers. That’s what a real partnership is all about.” 

More information www.gfms.com/uk 

Rodin Uses Creo Integrated CAD and Simulation Solution

Rodin Motorsport is using PTC’s Creo integrated CAD and simulation solution to find valuable fractions of a second on the racetrack, drawing on a relationship with PTC spanning almost 20 years. 

The Surrey-based team, which employs 60 people at its Farnham headquarters, recently used Creo to optimise the aerodynamics of a previous-generation FIA Formula 3 car for the demanding Guia Circuit in Macau. The street circuit combines tight, technical corners requiring downforce with a 1.2 km straight where low drag is critical. 

With Formula 3 regulations preventing Rodin from producing new rear-wing components, engineers created a detailed 3D model in Creo and used ‘Flow Analysis’ and ‘Creo Simulate’ to assess pressure distribution, downforce and drag in both DRS configurations. 

The team evaluated 10 wing-flap angles in half-degree increments, with each scenario taking around 15 minutes to generate. The resulting aerodynamic data was fed into lap-time simulation to establish the optimum compromise between cornering performance and straight-line speed. 

The analysis showed that increasing the flap angle by just half a degree slightly reduced grip but lowered drag sufficiently to improve straight-line performance. Combined with the lap simulation, this indicated a potential improvement of up to 0.25 seconds. 

“Everything comes back to improving lap time,” states Benn Huntingford, sporting director at Rodin Motorsport. “Our lap simulation indicated a potential improvement of up to 0.25 seconds, which is significant when every fraction of a second counts.” 

Technical director David Brown adds that without Creo, each variation would have required physical parts, wind-tunnel time and additional testing, turning 10 iterations into a process lasting days or weeks. 

Rodin is now extending its use of Creo as it expands into Formula Regional and GT racing, giving more engineers access to integrated design and simulation while connecting digital designs with in-house additive manufacturing. 

More information www.ptc.com  

Open Mind’s HyperMILL CAM Transforms Operations at Vigour

Founded in 2015, Coventry-based Vigour Ltd has grown from a single five-axis machining centre into a specialist manufacturer of complex, tight-tolerance components. From the outset, the company has relied on Open Mind’s hyperMILL CAM software to support its demanding work. 

Founder and managing director Ashley Hatton identified an opportunity to differentiate Vigour by adopting five-axis machining and CADCAM from day one, at a time when much of the subcontract market remained focused on three-axis machining and programming at the machine control. The company now operates four full five-axis machines, including three automated DMG Mori eVo 50 models. 

Hatton had previously used hyperMILL during his career in Formula 1 and chose the software for its reliability, robustness and fast calculation times. “My business is built around hyperMILL; it’s been a pillar of success for the company,” he says. 

A key benefit is Vigour’s ability to program while machines are cutting. Hatton typically programs the initial roughing operations in around 15 minutes, allowing the machine to start cutting while he develops subsequent roughing and finishing strategies. This approach maximises spindle utilisation and minimises machine downtime. 

Confidence in hyperMILL’s simulation is central to the process. “There’s no single-blocking or prove-outs anymore,” says Hatton. “We run the simulation in the software. Once it’s gone through that with no collisions, it’s on the machine and running.” 

Vigour specialises in components that demand difficult machining, challenging materials and complex geometry. Its recent work includes MAR-M247 turbine wheels and complex 17-4PH H900 compressor wheels for micro gas turbine applications. These rotating assemblies require shaft-to-wheel runout of less than 5 µm across the complete assembly, demonstrating the precision achievable through Vigour’s five-axis and hyperMILL-based approach. 

More information www.openmind-tech.com

CAMIO 2026 Launches with Renishaw REVO Five-Axis Integration

LK Metrology has unveiled a major release of its proprietary CAMIO software for programming, analysis and reporting on co-ordinate measuring machines (CMMs). CAMIO 2026 R1 advances multi-sensor metrology with comprehensive support for Renishaw’s REVO five-axis scanning probe system. 

The development enables manufacturers to combine REVO’s synchronised five-axis motion with CAMIO’s advanced inspection capabilities for complex measurement tasks. Users can program and execute REVO inspection routines directly within CAMIO, including advanced strategies such as sweep scanning and head touches. 

CAMIO optimises probe motion and measurement paths to reduce inspection times while maintaining accuracy. Its intuitive interface and offline programming capabilities also allow the creation, verification and optimisation of inspection routines before deployment on the CMM, helping improve productivity and minimise machine downtime. 

“We always strive to give manufacturers the freedom to choose the right metrology hardware for every application, without changing the way they program and inspect parts,” says Jonathan Rich, CAMIO product manager. “Support for the REVO five-axis system is another important step in delivering an open metrology platform that adapts to the user’s manufacturing environment.” 

CAMIO’s plug-and-play interoperability with REVO-equipped CMMs also allows manufacturers to use a single inspection software platform across mixed-brand machines, providing a consistent programming and inspection environment while reducing software lock-in. 

Compatibility with REVO-equipped CMMs is achieved using the industry-standard I++/DME client/server architecture. CAMIO operates as the I++ client, communicating with the UCC controller’s I++ server over a standard TCP/IP network. This standards-based approach avoids proprietary software or hardware modifications, simplifying integration while allowing manufacturers to maximise their existing metrology infrastructure. 

More information www.lkmetrology.com

JWA CNC Precision Overcomes Complexity with Mastercam  

JWA CNC Precision is demonstrating how the right CAM technology can help manufacturers consistently and profitably manage complex components and demanding tolerances. The UK subcontractor produces around 2000 different components each year from a catalogue of 9000, with tolerances routinely reaching 5 µm. 

Working predominantly with non-ferrous materials, including aluminium, stainless steel, plastics and composites, Leicester-based JWA supplies one-off and medium-batch components for aerospace, defence and green energy applications.  

For more than 20 years, JWA has relied on Mastercam software as the foundation of its manufacturing infrastructure. Technical director Tim Shillabeer, who has extensive experience with multiple CAM platforms, says the software’s widespread use provides access to extensive knowledge and support, as well as training resources. 

However, JWA has gone beyond simply ‘using’ Mastercam. The company has developed standardised programming and set-up procedures that enable trained operators to move between jobs and machines with confidence. New employees can become proficient quickly, while annual refresher training helps maintain skills across the workforce. 

“As a long-time user of Mastercam, we’ve ironed out so many little nuances that work really well for us,” says Shillabeer. 

This standardisation has reduced machine downtime, shortened gaps between jobs, and eliminated hours lost through programming and set-up variations. It also enables JWA to respond rapidly to new manufacturing challenges using established libraries, defaults and processes. 

Describing the company as being “quite at the advanced end of the scale” in its use of Mastercam, managing director Pete Wood says the approach has helped JWA maintain demanding quality standards while scaling its operations. It has also supported the company’s achievement of AS9100 certification and created a flexible, skilled workforce capable of handling its diverse production requirements. 

More information www.mastercam.com