Radan celebrates 30th anniversary

At an informal ceremony at its Bath headquarters, managing director Chris Aston recorded the company’s growth from a two-man operation in 1976 to its current position as a 75-strong international group with subsidiaries in France and Minneapolis, USA. The company was established by two former lecturers at Bath University, Tony Billett and Martin Swainston, and focused on providing integrated design to manufacturing software solutions for sheet metal customers. The company’s original Radraft and Radpunch products were developed on Tektronics 4054 / 4052 series machines and were subsequently ported to UNIX environments in the mid 1980s. Radan’s first 3D products were released in 1990, with all products ported to Windows PC operating systems five years later. This period also saw rapid growth in the company’s export business with the appointment of several overseas distributors during the 1990s. Radan introduced its new generation Windows-based products in 2002 and, a year later, the company became part of the Planit Group, which today includes leading engineering software houses: Alphacam, Jobshop; and most recently, Edgecam. “With more than 15,000 Radan licences in use around the world, we are currently enjoying the most successful period in our history,” said Mr Aston. “All product development continues to be undertaken at our Bath headquarters and, by focusing on providing a ‘one-stop shop’ for all our customers’ needs, we have established an enviable position as the dominant supplier within the UK sheet metal sector." Pictured: Chris Aston, left; Patrick Love, director, Planit International, right