Milltek Sport invests £2.5 million in advanced manufacturing facility

Derby-based Milltek Sport, a leader in the automotive aftermarket tuning industry, has marks its 40th year in business with a £2.5 million investment in new purpose-built R&D facilities.

The creation of the Milltek Sport Advanced Manufacturing Centre, which took 18 months to complete, will bring benefits in terms of production efficiency, reduced energy consumption and increased output. Importantly, it will play a significant role in enabling Milltek Sport to meet worldwide demand.

Milltek Sport estimates an 35% increase in production capability, resulting in reduced lead times and increased availability of ‘first to market’ systems for some of the most popular and newest performance vehicles, such as the Toyota GR Yaris, BMW M3/M4 G Series and new Audi RS3. The new facility complements its R&D facility near the Nürburgring in Germany, plus a primary production facility in Ilkeston.

Adjacent to the company’s existing Derby headquarters and warehouse and distribution facility in Pride Park, the Milltek Sport Advanced Manufacturing Centre is housed in a new 15,000ft² building that contains the latest advancements in manufacturing equipment.

Notably, Milltek has added a BLM LT-3 Hi-Flex five-axis twin robot laser, BLM LC5 combo tube and sheet laser machine and a BLM ELECT 102 CNC multi-stack tube 102mm capacity bender, supplied by Bedford-based BLM Group UK Ltd, which work together to streamline production and provide an even higher standard of finish to every Milltek Sport system.

Five-axis robotic laser
For example, the five-axis robotic laser produces parts in a radically different way to previous and delivers cuts that would not have been possible with hand processes. The laser cutting also enables advanced processing of raw materials, optimising efficiency and reducing scrap and waste.

The opening of the new centre has also created an additional six roles, taking the amount of people employed at the business’ Derbyshire hub to 70. These include a new product design engineer highly skilled in CAD and 3-D modelling, and machine operators.

All its exhaust systems are produced from highly durable T304L stainless steel, with all accredited to ISO9001:2015 standard. Milltek Sport offers one of the widest ranges of EC-approved performance exhaust systems on the market, all tested and approved by TUV in Germany.

Steve Pound, Milltek Sport managing director, said: “As we approach our 40th anniversary in 2023, now is one of the most exciting periods in our history. Demand for our products is growing at a significant rate and we want to strengthen our status as a leader in our segment, while continuing to create first-to-market systems for some of the newest and most talked about performance cars.

“Creating the Milltek Sport Advanced Manufacturing Centre will allow us to grow and diversify, while also optimising product quality and the speed of manufacturing. It also means we can complete more work in-house with less reliance on external suppliers.”

Mr Pound concluded: “It is excellent news for everyone involved with Milltek Sport and illustrates our commitment to providing the very best products and services to our distributors and the ultimate end users of our industry-leading performance exhaust systems.”