A fast-growing County Kildare manufacturer has set its sights on passing the £2 million sales barrier after investing in ‘state of the art’ CNC machine technology.

P&T Precision Engineering (www.ptprecisioneng.com), which employs 15 people, has purchased a Nakamura AS200 LMY twin-spindle lathe that will allow it to work with harder materials and help it to win new contracts.

The company made the decision during a Smart Machining event held by the Engineering Technology Group (ETG) (www.engtechgroup.com) in Newbridge, and it will take delivery of the lathe in July.

The machine’s sub-spindle capability will enable the firm to build on its expertise in ‘design for manufacture’ and should lead to new contracts in the food, packaging, print and medical sectors.

Darragh Walsh, who runs the company with his business partner Kevin, said: “Our relationship with ETG goes back to 2016, when we decided to upgrade our machining capabilities by acquiring a Quaser MV184 vertical machining centre.

"Following the success of that first purchase, we decided that we would take on another CNC machine in 2018 and jumped at the chance to attend Smart Machining, so we could see the technology we had in mind first-hand.

P&T Precision Engineering — formed in 1992 by Tom Walsh and his friend Peter Clark — offers a full range of engineering services, including design, machining, milling, turning and grinding to clients in Ireland and the UK.

The company passed the £1.8 million sales mark in 2017, and it intends to go one stage further this year by adding an additional £200,000 of new orders, as part of expansion plans that could see it recruit two more people and double its manufacturing footprint by taking on a nearby unit.