Excel Precision invests in Sodick EDM technology

While the pandemic year of 2020 has been tough for many businesses, Excel Precision is bucking the trend, recording several consecutive months of record sales figures. This inspirational performance has spurred investment in a new Sodick ALC600G CNC wire-erosion machine from Sodi-Tech EDM. The machine, which is sited at the company’s Birmingham facility, adds to an identical model at its Gloucester site – and becomes the sixth Sodick EDM across all three Excel Precision locations (Leeds, Gloucester and Birmingham).

“We’ve remained fully operational throughout the pandemic as we are acutely aware of the importance of the services we provide our customers, many of which help ‘keep the lights on’, such as those in the power generation, nuclear and oil and gas sectors,” explains Tony Sitek, Director of Business Development and the company’s majority shareholder.

Excel Precision has a reputation for manufacturing high-quality parts on-time, every time. Over the course of 2020, this ethos has helped the company to win many new customers.

“The reason we can assist new clients so readily is that we’re not afraid to invest,” states Mr Sitek. “We’ve invested £1.2 million since January 2019, with new machines going into all three of our manufacturing facilities. If we fill up a shop, we buy another one.

A case in point is the newly arrived (July 2020) Sodick ALC600G wire EDM for the company’s Birmingham site, which specialises in both the military and commercial aerospace sectors. Excel Precision holds approvals with a number of leading aerospace OEMs, and carries AS9100 rev D certification, as well as NADCAP AC7116/3 rev B approval for both wire and spark erosion.

Excel Precision first switched to Sodick technology last year when trials revealed far quicker component cycle times – for less energy consumption – than could be achieved using its existing machines.

“We took the plunge and acquired our first two Sodick machines [for the Gloucester site] in January 2019, since when we haven’t looked back,” says Mr Sitek. “The latest Sodick ALC600G wire EDM is already making parts. Around 98% of what we do at Birmingham is aerospace work.”

He continues: “Sodi-Tech EDM have surpassed themselves in my opinion. The back-up and aftersales support have been tremendous throughout all of our machine investment projects.”