West Midlands-based HLP Engineering Solutions, which specialises in press tools for the automotive industry, has invested in another Sodick wire erosion machine from Sodi-Tech EDM in Coventry (www.sodi-techedm.co.uk).

The large AQ750L Premium not only provides more capacity but also greater precision — and around 25-30% more speed than the machine it replaced.

Founded in 2009 by Luke Hobbs and Phil Littlewood, HLP supplies multi-stage progression tools to a number of Tier One automotive companies from its facility in Halesowen and currently employs eight people.

Mr Hobbs said: “We started with no premises, machines or money, and we would simply cold-call to get work. A friend offered us some space in his unit, and we bought a few pre-owned Sodick wire EDMs from auction.

“We were familiar with Sodick machines from previous employment, and they are tried and tested, as far as we’re concerned.”

Business at HLP soon accelerated, and after a brief stint in a rented unit, the company acquired its own premises, with three pre-owned Sodick wire EDMs in place.

However, faced with yet more demand for its services, the company recently sought to expand its capacity even further.

“We needed to extend the size envelope of what we could undertake, and we knew that bringing in another Sodick would release capacity on some of our other machines.”

“Along with its size, the AQ750L Premium has introduced us to new-generation technologies such as linear drives, which mean that surface quality is enhanced and energy consumption is reduced.

“The machine has become the showpiece of our facility.”