A lot can happen in a year. At Cambridge Numerical Control (CNC), a supplier of software and systems to CNC milling, turning and sheet metal companies, John Ball — one of the founding members of CNC — retired a year ago after nearly 40 years in the business.
Tim Collett, co-owner of CNC (
www.cnc.uk.com), bought Mr Ball’s shares and has run the business since.
He said: “John and I worked closely together developing the business for many years, and we had always agreed that when John reached retirement age I would buy him out; this was completed in April last year.
“We have since restructured the business and formed alliances with several CAD/CAM suppliers, so we could concentrate on our DNC and MDC products — real-time machine data collection systems with web-based reporting.
“It was a big change for the business, but the results have been worth it; the year to March 2018 has been our best ever.”
One recent development is what Mr Collett calls the CNC Training Room. “We deal with a large number of engineering companies; every one of them tells us that they struggle to find good engineers and that the training offered by local colleges does not go far enough.
“Apprentices need hands-on access to the machines they are going to use, as well as theory-based learning. The CNC Training Room gives them that in a classroom environment where they cannot break an expensive machine.
"Our Training Room package consists of a PC for the trainer, a touch-screen PC for each student, Solid Modelling software, 2-D and 3-D CAM software, and simulation of Fanuc, Heidenhain and Siemens controls.”