East Staffordshire-based Blum-Novotest (www.blum-novotest.com), a leading ‘in-machine’ measurement specialist, is celebrating two milestones in 2018, with the UK operation 18 years old and its German parent reaching half a century.

The company, which employs eight people, is marking the double anniversary in style after securing three new orders for its recently launched LC50, which is the latest addition to its successful Digilog laser measurement family.

Customers involved in the automotive, F1 and aerospace sectors have already invested in the new technology, which uses premium laser optics, a new shutter protection system and an ‘HPC nozzle’ to provide ‘ultra-reliable’ in-machine measurement data.

David Mold, who founded the UK subsidiary in 2000, said: “We started out as a one-man engineering office, when founder Günther Blum combined his studies in aerospace engineering with design work for machine tool manufacturers, eventually leading to him starting his own company in South West Germany.

“The company has come a long way in 50 years, and it is now seen as a global market leader, employing close on 550 people in 16 operations world-wide.

“In order to mark the celebrations, we took a number of customers over to Blum Tech-Talk, a major event that gave them the opportunity to see how our probes and systems are built and the scale of our manufacturing facilities.”