MSP News

MSP continues to innovate after another successful year

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MSP is celebrating after another successful year which has seen them thrive and develop further. The company, which specialise in world class precision software and part manufacturing solutions, have continued to help the global manufacturing industry become more efficient as well as inspiring future generations enter the sector.

MSP’s main products, NC-Checker and NC-PartLocator, are already firmly established within many major global manufacturing operations and have been adopted by the likes of notable Formula 1 teams and major names in aerospace, helping them to save millions of pounds, reduce excessive machining times or improve the accuracy of their parts. This year, MSP have strengthened the software’s presence in emerging areas of the industry, such as additive manufacturing, as well as developing solutions for other problems within machining processes. This includes the introduction of its AutoClock hardware, which has enabled the company to introduce full automation to the part machining process for the first time - a huge breakthrough for the traditional manufacturing process.

Alongside this introduction of AutoClock, MSP has seen a series of further achievements throughout 2019 which includes being shortlisted in the ‘Outstanding Achievement’ category at Dynamo’s Dynamites 19 awards. In particular, the company have focused on sharing their expertise to improve the industry and engaging in schemes to inspire future engineers.

Since its foundation in 2002, MSP has won praise for its expertise in improving efficiency within manufacturing and sharing this knowledge to improve best practice within the industry. As part of this, the business held its first Technical Seminar this year to help existing customers and new companies further improve their processes and get the most out of MSP’s innovative products. The event attracted leading names in manufacturing, confirming the company’s reputation as being at the forefront of the industry.

As a further means of knowledge sharing, MSP also became a Tier Two member of the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) this year. As part of this membership, the company will work with the AFRC to develop the centre’s capabilities in new areas, such as composite machining, using the state-of-the-art machining facility as a test bed for new software development. In addition, MSP has been a Tier One member of the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) for five years, where MSP’s founders, Peter Hammond and Tony Brown, frequently share their experience and knowledge to influence the future of manufacturing.

In other company news, the beginning of the year saw MSP become an Industry partner of the TechUp Women programme, a pioneering project led by various Universities, retraining 100 women across the North and Midlands in the digital sector and helping them kickstart a new career. The six-month online course is the first of its kind, with MSP playing an active role in devising course content and supporting participants throughout their studies.

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MSP's Director of Development, Marianne Whitfield, speaking to participants on the TechUp Women programme.

MSP’s Director of Development, Marianne Whitfield, has been integral to MSP’s involvement with the scheme: “It is an honour to help so many women develop their tech skills but also their confidence too. As an Industry Partner, we also provide mentoring for students throughout the duration of the course and it’s great to be part of their journey on such a personal level. I am so pleased with how successful the project has been so far and hope it will run for many years to come.”

The company, based in Alnwick, Northumberland, has also continued to build links with the nearby Duchess’s Community High School this year to help inspire future generations locally. In particular, they held an open day for students to showcase the types of careers they could have within engineering, manufacturing or software development, with three attendees then joining the company on placement during the summer. This partnership builds on MSP’s longstanding commitment to retaining talent in the North East, which has previously involved sponsoring students from the school through their degree courses at Oxford and Cambridge and creating positions for them to return after their studies.

MSP is also committed to offering opportunities for development and progression for its talented team internally and have recently had five internal promotions including the move of long-serving Application Engineers, Aidan Wigham and Graeme Potts, into new positions as Technical Account Managers. Both will continue to support their engineering responsibilities whilst growing the technical sales for the company’s product lines globally.

These achievements have helped the company continue their growth and development, meaning their turnover has now grown by around 15 per cent for the past four years and employee numbers have risen by 10 per cent, on average, since 2015. As leaders in manufacturing innovation, and with even more products in development, it’s no doubt this growth will continue and allow the company to break into new markets. In addition to worldwide growth, they hope to increase their presence in the North East and reinforce the region’s position as a key destination for tech-based businesses and professionals.