Precision fabricator eyes nuclear market

Investments in LTI Metaltech could move it into energy sector

A precision fabrication and welding firm based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, is eyeing work in the nuclear and renewable energy markets following a £1.5 million investment.

German-owned LTI Metaltech, which specialises in the manufacture of cryogenic pressure vessels for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment made by Siemens, has seen an expansion of its factory to 46,000 square feet and the addition of new high-tech manufacturing equipment including a water jet cutting machine and dedicated tube manufacturing facility.

Phil Lacey, operations director, said the investment was the first stage in a series of announcements LTI intended to make and that the factory space was destined to be “transformed”. The company was part of Siemens until 2005 when it was sold to the LTI Group. It has recently received an order from Siemens MR Magnet Technology to produce cryogenic pressure vessels for its next generation MRI scanners. LTI can produce 4,000 vessels a year with the addition of the new equipment.

The Abingdon plant has some 110 staff including a small engineering team. Lacey has employed techniques used in the automotive industry such as lean manufacturing to make it as efficient as possible. He hopes that the company will now be able to win business as nuclear new build takes place and in the renewable energy sector. “Working in medical, we are used to producing components to very high quality standards with high precision in tightly regulated environments,” he said. “There are parallels with the demands of renewables and the nuclear industry.”