As UK manufacturers navigate another month of contraction, firms across the aerospace supply chain are facing an uncomfortable reality: cost-down demands from primes, thinning inventories, and a shortage of skilled labour are colliding to create a perfect storm. The latest S&P Global UK Manufacturing PMI shows the sector has now been below the growth threshold for a year, with output, new orders and employment all falling. For aerospace and advanced engineering businesses under pressure to deliver more with less, the challenge is clear — and it’s driving a renewed focus on efficiency, visibility, and smarter use of data. That’s where Addqual, the Derby-based metrology and inspection specialist, is making a tangible impact.“In this market, manufacturers can’t afford to wait a week for inspection results,” says Ben Anderson, AddQual’s Managing Director.
“Every hour a part sits in limbo is lost time, lost money, and lost confidence. We’re here to fix that. ”AddQual’s model is built around one simple idea: give manufacturers fast, accurate, and traceable data so they can make confident decisions under pressure. The company combines structured light scanning with automated, NADCAP-accredited workflows to slash qualification and inspection times — often delivering full aerospace qualification reports within 24 hours. It’s a bold claim, but one backed by results. Where a traditional process might take several days, AddQual’s automated systems compress the entire workflow — from data capture to reporting — into a single shift. The outcome? Production lines stay moving, engineers get the insights they need faster, and management teams gain traceable evidence for compliance and customer assurance.
“If you’re waiting on metrology to tell you what’s going wrong, you’re already losing money,” says Anderson. “We’ve flipped that dynamic so that inspection drives improvement rather than delay.” That shift is particularly relevant as aerospace OEMs intensify cost-down programs. AddQual’s data-driven approach turns inspection into a proactive process — identifying process drift, tooling wear, and CAD mismatches before they snowball into scrap or schedule overruns. In effect, the company helps manufacturers turn what was once a bottleneck into an enabler. By delivering structured, traceable digital data, AddQual allows production and quality teams to act with confidence rather than conjecture. The need for this kind of agility has rarely been greater.
September’s PMI data showed not only the eleventh consecutive monthly fall in output but also a marked decline in new orders and exports. Weaker demand from the EU, US, and Asia is forcing aerospace and automotive suppliers alike to tighten spending and reconsider where they can extract efficiencies without compromising quality. At the same time, the industry’s skills gap continues to widen. As experienced inspectors and engineers retire, the pressure on younger, smaller teams to maintain output and compliance grows. Automation and outsourced expertise — like that offered by AddQual — are increasingly filling that void.“Most manufacturers don’t want to become metrology experts,” says Anderson.
“They want answers they can trust, quickly and clearly. That’s our job — to deliver certainty in uncertain times.”AddQual’s growing reputation also stems from its ability to go beyond measurement alone. The company is frequently called in to support root-cause investigations where internal quality systems have reached their limits. “We’re often the ones who get called when a team has hit a wall,” Anderson explains. “We work alongside engineers to find the real issue — whether it’s a toolpath deviation, machine drift, or a CAD-to-part mismatch. It’s about problem-solving, not just point-clouds.” For customers, that means faster resolutions, fewer repeats, and less wasted effort — vital advantages in a sector where margin erosion is becoming the new normal.
With the UK manufacturing sector now contracting at its sharpest pace since March and optimism tempered by weak orders and energy costs, Addqual’s success story underscores a wider truth: digital transformation in quality and inspection isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity. By fusing precision data with real-world engineering know-how, AddQual is showing how British firms can still compete globally — not by cutting corners, but by cutting wasted time. “We exist to give manufacturers trust, speed, and confidence,” says Anderson. “When you’re under pressure to deliver, that can make all the difference.”
About AddQual
Based in Derby, AddQual specialises in metrology, inspection, and qualification services for aerospace, automotive, and advanced engineering sectors. The company holds NADCAP accreditation and AS9100 compliance, offering rapid, traceable data to support component qualification, root-cause analysis, and production improvement.
