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Gresham Office Furniture, a leading UK designer and maker of workspace furniture, operates from a 200,000sq/ft factory on a 14-acre site in Bolton. In early 2025, they added three machines from BLM Group UK: a tube laser cutter, a flat-bed fibre laser, and an electric press brake, complementing a BLM tube bender installed seven years earlier. These machines now enable Gresham to manufacture all metal furniture components in-house, reducing outsourcing by two-thirds.
Operations Manager David Openshaw explains: “The BLM acquisitions were part of a £7m investment. Insourcing all of our metal component manufacturing has been a major benefit. Brexit, Covid and the Ukraine war all contributed to lengthening lead times from our subcontractors. Gresham prides itself on delivering to customers in 15 days from receipt of order, so we wanted total control over supply.”
The production team was keen that all sheet and tube working machines should come from a single supplier. Although the existing BLM tube bender has performed reliably since 2001, Gresham evaluated two alternative suppliers before reconfirming BLM Group UK.
Laser cutting & bending
The BLM LT7 Lasertube and E-TURN 52 tube bender exemplify inter-machine communication. BLM’s ArTube 3D CAD/CAM software predicts how much tube will stretch during bending and instructs the laser cutter to offset hole positions accordingly. This calculation varies across the factory’s 60-plus mild steel and aluminium tube cross-sections, wall thicknesses from 1.2 to 2mm, and every bend angle. If the E-TURN 52’s sensors detect that the stretch deviates from the prediction, a correction is sent to the LT7 before the next cut.
“Inter-machine communication avoids problems caused by inconsistency in tube material, which can vary in wall thickness by 0.2 to 0.3mm,” says Openshaw. “It does not sound much, but it has a big effect on the bend. In-process adjustments are essential to ensure right-first-time production and prevent scrapped parts.”
Notable features of the LT7 include in-process stud rivet insertion and a 3D tilt-head that sculpts tube ends to sub-millimetre accuracy for optimal weld positioning.
The BLM LS7 3015 flat-bed laser, powered by a 6kW fibre source, delivers simultaneous axis acceleration of 2g and a nine-second pallet change cycle. BLM’s Active Tools automatically adapt beam diameter and cutting parameters to maintain a burr-free finish, while an automated 18-position nozzle-changing magazine minimises setup time when switching material thicknesses. A camera-based nozzle wear monitor initiates automatic replacement before cut quality is compromised.
The STR Verde 260-100 press brake’s standout feature is its LED-guided tool-position indicator, which illuminates the exact punch and die locations along the upper beam — reducing setup times and guiding operators through complex multi-bend sequences. An infrared laser measures the bend angle in real time; if springback or material variation is detected, the ram depth adjusts mid-cycle. Integration with EsaBend 3D software allows STEP files from Gresham’s Autodesk Inventor system to be transferred directly to the press brake control, which automatically generates G-Code with crowning and springback corrections.
The business case is clear. Intelligent nesting of sheet components has eliminated the material waste inherent in subcontracting, and the LT7 can process full lengths of tube stock and reuse off-cuts — previously, unused material from subcontracted batches was charged back to Gresham.
Openshaw reflects: “Twenty-five years ago, when I joined Gresham, turnover was £18m with 300 shop floor staff. Today, turnover has doubled with one-third the number of operators and assembly personnel.”
