High Precision, Low Scrap Manufacturing: Renishaw’s Digital Advantage with NX CAM

Renishaw is a global engineering technology company based in the UK that develops and manufactures high-precision measuring systems, manufacturing systems, and medical devices. They are known for their expertise in areas like precision measurement, healthcare, and additive manufacturing. What sets them apart is their ability to deliver high-quality, low-volume, high-variety parts — meeting customer-specific needs with unparalleled flexibility and precision.

In today’s fast-paced manufacturing world, Renishaw faces a common but complex challenge: producing an ever-increasing variety of highly precise parts without relying on large teams of expert machinists. As the industry faces the growing skills gap challenge and fluctuating customer requirements, Renishaw needed a solution that could increase factory productivity, reduce reliance on manual intervention, and support agile product development.

Watch the full interview to see how Renishaw reduces scrap and keeps 43 machines running with just a few experts — powered by Siemens NX CAM.

Siemens NX CAM: Standardizing and Simplifying Operations

To address these challenges, Renishaw turned to Siemens NX CAM software to drive efficiency, precision, and collaboration across their operations.

Here’s how the Siemens NX CAM is transforming Renishaw’s shop floor:

• Standardized templates: By embedding best practices into process templates in NX CAM, Renishaw significantly reduced quality-related costs and scrap rates — achieving less than 1% scrap.
• Labor optimization: With automated processes, just two to three employees now oversee 43 machines per shift—reducing labor costs while maintaining productivity.
• Concurrent engineering: NX enables design and manufacturing teams to collaborate in real time using a single source of truth, thanks to seamless integration with Teamcenter. This ensures everyone— designers, manufacturing engineers, assembly technicians, and procurement — works from the same solid model.
• Model-Based definition: Designers define data points directly on the 3D model, eliminating the need for traditional 2D drawings. These points feed directly into probing routines for quality control, streamlining the process and reducing human error.
• Full digital thread: The digital continuity from design to manufacturing enables fast iteration and optimization. With real-time data from the shop floor soon being fed back into the planning stages, Renishaw is setting the stage for a closed-loop manufacturing process.

We don’t have the time-served toolmakers and experts around CNC machine shops that we used to have. Technology is now starting to play a part to help manufacturers increase capability and precision — even without the skilled people.”

Paul Maxted, Director of Industrial Metrology Applications, Renishaw

A Clear Path to Smarter, More Flexible Production

The success of Renishaw’s digital transformation highlights the tangible benefits of digitalization by leveraging NX CAM, NX CAD, and Teamcenter. From reducing scrap and labor costs to accelerating product development, Renishaw is not only improving how it makes products today but also shaping the factory of the future.

“The incorporation of all this within Siemens NX has made the whole task of developing new products much easier as an organization,” says Maxted.

Renishaw’s next step? Closing the feedback loop — connecting real-time production data back into the design phase to refine tolerances, improve quality, and continuously optimize manufacturing processes.