BTMA - British Textile Machinery Association

Tufting machinery manufacturer Thom Engineering has specialised in serving the equipment needs of the carpet and artificial grass tufting industries at local, national and international levels since 1979.

Initially, the company provided technical service to local tufted carpet manufacturers, but after a short time many customers began to request the supply of parts too. Gradually the business evolved into the manufacture of replacement parts, pattern attachments and complete machines.

In February 2003 Thom was purchased by Bryn Roberts, who then joined the company as managing director to work alongside technical director Thomas Hesmondhalgh.

Together Bryn and Tom have modernised what was, and in essence still is, a solid company built on traditional engineering skills.

Today Thom is a full service provider, encompassing the start-to-finish CAD design and CNC manufacture of the Thom brand of tufting machines and associated ancillary equipment.

Electrical Division

In 2004, Thom extended its scope to include control panels and servo systems.

The Thom Electrical Division, managed by electronics engineer and technical director David Potts, manufactures electrical systems and servo control panels for tufting machines. In addition, its pattern attachments include servo graphics, servo multi-roll, servo scroll, servo yarn-feed, servo cloth-feed and servo jute-mover systems for fitting to new machines or retro-fitting to existing ones.

Thom has developed a range of machine control systems which are supplied 'internet ready', with wireless network connection facilities as standard for those with servo-controlled pattern attachments.  The internet now provides facilities for on-line service and support virtually anywhere in the world.

Grass specialist

Over the past decade, the Thom brand has emerged as a leading name in the growth market for artificial grass tufting machines and has developed considerable technical expertise in this specialist field.

Other machines manufactured by the company include tufting machines for the manufacture of carpet tiles, plain or patterned broadloom wall-to-wall carpet, entrance matting, bath mat scatter rugs, sample machines and shag pile machines.

In addition to machines and ancillary equipment, Thom also manufactures a comprehensive range of conversion kits for existing machines of all makes and models. Some of the kits available include gauge conversion, pile conversion (i.e. from loop pile to cut pile or vice-versa) and conversions to single or double sliding needle bar graphics.

Thom carries extensive stocks of off-the-shelf parts for most makes and model of tufting machine. Bespoke/specially modified parts to suit customer requirements can also be manufactured in-house using CNC machining plant.

Thom customers benefit from full electrical and mechanical breakdown service and support at local, national and international levels. The removal, disassembly, packing, shipping/transport, assembly and commissioning of tufting machines is also undertaken.

In addition, professional machinery appraisals, recommendations, planning and advice concerning all aspects of tufted goods production can also be provided by the team of specialists at Thom Engineering.