In 1965, Donald Welborn, Director of Industrial Co-operation at the University of Cambridge, saw the potential of usingcomputers in the design and manufacture of complex 3D shapes.He set up a company to develop Computer-Aided Design (CAD)and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) software, which uses a drawing tool to describe geometries that are then used to define a tool path that directs the movement of amachine tool to replicate in 3D the exact shape that was drawn.
By 1991, the firm, now known as Delcam Plc, had gone through a series of buyouts and changes, growing into a listed companybased in Birmingham, with over 500 direct employees. Its product ranges reach all industries, including automotive,aerospace, engineering, medical and dental, and consumerproducts such as jewellery or engraving.
In the late 1990s, Delcam approached UK Trade & Investmentand the British High Commission in India for help in developingplans to improve service for its Indian customers. These initialmeetings with UK Trade & Investment led to Delcam setting upa physical presence in India in 2000, although initially onlyworking with national distributors and dealer networks.
“An important part of the service that we offer is being close toour customers,” says Vineet Seth, Delcam’s Managing Directorfor India and the Middle East. “We soon realised that we werenot able to accomplish this with a dealer network as we weremissing out on vital follow-up support and contact. In 2000, weopened up a liaison office in Pune and by 2002 we had a whollyowned subsidiary, an office and 50 employees.”