Seizing an opportunity that presented itself in October 2017, when US-based Coherent acquired the Rofin Group but discarded its Oxfordshire-based subsidiary ES Technology, Tim Millard and Andy May formed ES Precision Ltd (www.esprecision.co.uk) — and kept the new business at the same Kingston Bagpuize site. Its assets included a number of laser marking and drilling systems, along with a small-batch machining capability — a mix of manual lathes and two XYZ ProtoTrak-controlled mills (www.xyzmachinetools.com).

Mr May said: “The machining side of the business was originally in place to provide in-house support for ES Technology’s production of bespoke laser processing systems.

"This in-house machining now supports the manufacture of fixtures and mandrels for our laser marking job shop, but we saw the opportunity to provide a local low-volume machining service to the same industries that the lasers address —
motor-sport, medical and general industrial.”

Mr Millard said: “The XYZ ProtoTrak mills are ideal for our R&D and small-batch production, and we are targeting the machining of one-offs and two-offs that are of no interest to more conventional sub-contract machine shops.

“We can justify that type of work due to the efficiency of the ProtoTrak control when it comes to generating programs — and the fact the machines are not fully utilised for our in-house requirements.”

“The ProtoTrak control is key to our ability to provide the machining service that we do. The speed and ease with which we can create programs at the machine control means that producing complex shapes and forms is straightforward.


"Meanwhile, our laser capacity makes use of modern laser sources including fibre, YAG and CO₂, so we can mark, etch and drill a wide range of materials.

“By combining that with a low-volume machining capacity, we feel we have a complete business that can provide customers with an all-round professional partnership.”