A&M EDM, a manufacturer of bespoke components and tooling, was the winner of the Make UK SME Manufacturer of the Year Award in 2025. The company has doubled turnover in the last 6 years and is forecasting a 20% growth in 2026, all of which has been facilitated by the implementation of QuickWorks.

Company

A&M started in 2002 with just 2 people and now has a staff of 85, with a turnover of £10m. The company is well known for offering rapid response engineering solutions to manufacture bespoke high value, low volume components and tooling for many sectors including aerospace and motorsports.

In 60,000 square feet of manufacturing space, A&M machine complex precision components in varied materials from thermoplastics to aluminium, stainless steel and exotic materials such as Inconel and Titanium. Their standout engineering capabilities are Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM), Precision CNC Machining, Tool Making and Design for Manufacture (DfM).

Challenge

In 2019, having grown to a turnover of £5.5m, without having an integrated manufacturing system, the business was struggling to keep track of the status of jobs at any one time.

“Probably the biggest challenge for A&M, prior to QuickWorks, was tracking orders and where they were in the manufacturing process. Knowing where everything is at any one time was becoming quite difficult.” 
- Kevin Powell, Director of A&M

The Directors knew they needed a manufacturing control system. However, they were concerned about employing an overly complex system that would add to the administrative burden. It was also essential that it could meet the following requirements:

• Be flexible enough to handle the stringent requirements of aerospace customers, without imposing unnecessary constraints on other customers.
• Be able to handle ever changing priorities and communicate them instantly, without the need for formal manufacturing plans (as soon as plans were printed and distributed, they would be out of date, as priorities could change several times a day)
• Could automate elements of the quality system, especially traceability, as compliance standards were becoming ever more stringent.
• Would allow the MD to hand over tasks to other people without losing control and visibility
• Be easy to get going and to use

Results

The primary objective of implementing QuickWorks was achieved, with the ability to track jobs and know the live status of each and every job.

“As we have done live bookings with QuickWorks, we are now able to just look at our PC and know exactly where a job is.” 
- Kevin Powell, Director of A&M

Other key outcomes are;

• From 2019 to 2025, the company grew from a turnover of £5.5m to £10m and is predicting £12m in 2026.
• Live, accurate information on which to make decisions
• Less time chasing jobs and materials – more time to develop the business and grow
• Ability to access the system from anywhere (on-site and off-site) and at any time
• The response from customers has been overwhelmingly positive, instilling reassurance and confidence
• Facilitated the gaining of the Make UK SME Manufacturer of the Year Award in 2025e
• Reduced lead times and improved responsiveness, due to the ease of use of the system.
• Improved quoting – speed and access
• Greater engagement and ownership of decision making within the business
• Everyone has access to the information they need at their fingertips (operators, support staff and Directors)

"A&M supply components and assemblies into a broad range of sectors, including aerospace, automotive, industrial and commercial. We could not run and grow our business with confidence today without QuickWorks"
- Melvin Wingfield, Director of A&M