Dowse Engineering Eliminates CNC Inconsistencies with Smart Manufacturing Leap

by Hannah Brown on 3:06 PM on October 13, 2025

By moving to proactive control of their machine tools, Dowse Engineering has removed variability, cut downtime and enhanced efficiency.

Precision engineering services firm, Dowse Engineering, has taken accuracy for its machine shop to the next level by introducing cutting-edge metrology tools from MSP onto three of its 5-axis CNC machine tools.

Based in Bletchley, United Kingdom, Dowse Engineering is a leader in the manufacture of precision and micro-mass production components for various industries including the defence, aerospace, motorsport and high-end automotive sectors. To keep to tight specifications and critical deadlines, the company has a commitment for continual investment in precision CNC machining technology.

Following a drive for more analytics across the shopfloor, Dowse Engineering approached MSP to pinpoint the root cause of part-to-part variation and inconsistencies across different CNC machines and enhance shopfloor consistency and performance.

MSP’s initial assessment concluded that inconsistencies across Dowse’s machine tools could be coming from either errors in the probes or the machines themselves.

The only way to ensure the probe has been set up and calibrated without error is to perform these processes automatically. Currently, MSP’s ground-breaking AutoClock device is the only way to automatically find the position of the calibration artefact in the machine and then calibrate the probe automatically to ensure micron levels of accuracy and that no errors are creating inconsistencies or poor production results.

Despite probe errors being a common cause of problems in part production, it is a little-known fact that switching a manual probe setup routine to an automatic one can resolve many issues manufacturers face, such as parts failing final inspection. By implementing AutoClock into their processes, Dowse is one of the companies leading the rest of the industry in next-level manufacturing operations.

By implementing AutoClock into their processes, Dowse is one of the companies leading the rest of the industry in next-level manufacturing operations.

Once the probe was known to be set up accurately, the next stage MSP implemented was to assess CNC machine tool performance with NC-Checker to highlight inconsistencies and potential reasons for the part-to-part variation Dowse had been experiencing. The insights from NC-Checker’s reports allowed Dowse to see which differences in their machine setup or performance were contributing to varying results in part production. Dowse tweaked and removed these root causes, ensuring the production of right-first-time parts. NC-Checker is now run regularly to assess these three machines, transforming Dowse’s quality control from reactive to proactive.

“NC-Checker has been a game-changer for us” said Steve Walker, Director at Dowse Engineering, “Having this insight allows us to maintain our high standards and also adds extra efficiency to our operations because we can highlight problems faster and rectify them easily”.

And this is just the start. The company hopes to invest in NC-PartLocator, the final product from MSP’s PerfectPart product suite, soon.

Steve continues: “We’re committed to continuous improvement, and it is important we’re using the right tools that enable us to reach the highest of standards. Just as the other products have upgraded our probe calibration and machine assessment operations, NC-PartLocator will transform our part location game, automating the process to reduce the time it takes to align our castings parts and make for more accurate machining”.