Renishaw plc

Summary

Renishaw plc grew from a measurement problem on Concorde’s engines. David McMurtry developed a touch-trigger probe to solve an inspection problem on the Olympus engines used in Concorde. The company, founded in 1973, built that idea into a wider precision-engineering business based in Gloucestershire.

Today customers buy probes to measure parts, systems to calibrate machines, and encoders that report the position of a moving axis. A robot controller needs that feedback to know where its joints are. Renishaw also supplies spectroscopy and metal additive-manufacturing equipment, so robotics is one application within a broader portfolio.

Customer benefits

• Check parts during production and reduce the need to discover errors later.
• Give motion controllers accurate position feedback.
• Measure and correct machine errors before they affect finished components.

What sets it apart

The appeal is measurement accuracy that survives real factory conditions, backed by applications support. Once an encoder or probe has been designed into a machine, replacing it requires engineering and validation. Customers still have alternative suppliers, and qualification does not prevent pricing pressure or a pause in machine orders.

Growth plans

Renishaw is expanding its encoder and measurement technologies as demand grows from semiconductor equipment, aerospace and defence, and wider automation. Its first quarter of FY2027 brought another increase in sales, and it is investing in capacity for the strong encoder demand. Because equipment orders can be cyclical, the challenge is to support that growth without assuming it will continue at the same pace indefinitely.