Aesseal: Yorkshire firm using automation to free up staff for work ‘only a human’ can do
Specialist manufacturing firm Aesseal has embarked on an initiative to automate a large swathe of its design processes, in a move the company said will free up staff to do tasks which “require a level of decision making that can only be performed by a human being”.
South Yorkshire-based Aesseal said the move will release 50 per cent of its design and computer aided manufacturing professionals to work on “complex” and “tailor-made” product solutions.
It comes as Aesseal’s parent company, AES Engineering, posted its annual results for 2025, revealing a lift in profits.
The company posted pre-tax profits of £60.6m, up just under three per cent from £59m a year prior.
It added that this had been achieved “despite the impact of tariffs in certain territories”.
The figure came alongside group revenues of £280m, up from £270.7m a year prior.
Aesseal is the the mechanical seal arm of the wider AES Engineering group
Speaking on the firm’s automation efforts, Chris Rea, group managing director at AES Engineering, said the company was using elements of AI in most of its automation processes, but said that AES is “not an AI business.”
He added: “But like all businesses that want a future, it is an AI enabled business.”
It comes after the company recently engaged its new AI advisor, A.J. Chakravarthy.
In November of last year, AES completed what it described as a “significant capital investment” into its operations in Australia.
The move saw AES open Aesseal Australia's new Net Zero headquarters building in Brisbane.
AES said the facility represents a “major commitment to sustainability”, with the site being named as the first building in Australia to achieve certification under the BREEAM sustainability scheme, achieving an 'Excellent’ rating.
The opening also marked over 30 years of Aesseal’s presence in the Australian market.
September last year also saw Aesseal open its new “Factory for the Future” in Rotherham, marked by a visit from former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The company previously said its investment into the new factory would bring its total investments into Rotherham to around £60m.
During the year, AES also undertook a programme of business restructuring. The move saw the company acquire minority shareholdings in several groups where shareholders had elected to retire or exit.
The firm said the transactions had resulted in AES increasing its ownership and level of strategic control in a number of operations, including in Malaysia, Taiwan, the Czech Republic and Australia.
Over the last three months AES said its group sales had averaged around £25m per month, or £75m in total, up from a previous three-month record of £24m per month, or £72m in total.
Asked for his reflections on the 2025 financial year, Mr Rea added: “There has been no “normal “ year since 2019.
“The business is full of capable people who care about each other and our customers and when a person or a business is capable there is always work to do or a new customer to serve. It has been challenging but the great people in our business have risen to the challenge.”