Confidence within the engineering manufacturing sector continues to grow and this is reflected by the growing order book at Devon-based XYZ Machine Tools. Invoiced sales and new orders for the first six months of the financial year show a strong recovery from the pandemic and a return to the business levels of 2019.

Nigel Atherton, XYZ Machine Tools managing director, said: “The signs we are seeing are very encouraging and it is interesting to note that while demand for our ProtoTRAK controlled mills and lathes remains very strong, there is an increasing trend for customers to order higher-value machines, such as our vertical and five-axis machining centres and turning centres.”

This continuing growth in sales has prompted XYZ Machine Tools to review its machine order and build strategy, planning as far ahead as October 2022 it will be able to maintain the traditional high machine stock levels held at its Burlescombe headquarters.

Mr Atherton continued: “Supply chain disruption has been a common topic on the news in recent months, which is affecting all industries, so we are forward-planning with 263 machines currently in transit to the UK, with a further 600 machines in the pipeline. This commitment will ensure that we can continue to support our customers by responding as quickly as possible to their orders by getting machines delivered to their shopfloors and producing parts.”

Increasing the supply of available machines is just part of the positive story at XYZ Machine Tools. As a result of the increase in business, the company has embarked on a recruitment campaign, with a number of opportunities, including additional machine tool service engineers. These positions are in addition to the 16 new staff that have been taken on in the past few months across all areas of the business, including sales, service, production and administration.