What Plastometrex does

Plastometrex is a Cambridge, United Kingdom-based machinery manufacturing company founded in 2019 by former University of Cambridge materials scientists Dr James Dean (CEO), Dr Jimmy Campbell (CTO), and Professor Bill Clyne (CSO). The company commercializes PIP (Profilometry-based Indentation Plastometry), a proprietary non-destructive testing method that extracts full stress-strain curves from metallic materials in under five minutes using accelerated inverse finite element analysis on measured residual indent profiles. PIP is now codified as ASTM E3499-25, approved in October 2025 after three years and eight ballot counts.

The company's product portfolio comprises three hardware systems: PLX-Benchtop (a compact laboratory indentation plastometer weighing approximately 35 kg), PLX-HotStage (a modular add-on enabling testing up to 800°C), and PLX-Portable (a field-deployable optical-interferometer-based unit for in-situ pipeline and asset verification). These are supported by CORSICA+, an annual subscription software platform for data analysis and method extensions, and PLXUS, a cloud platform for pipeline integrity record-keeping aligned with PHMSA's Traceable, Verifiable, Complete requirements.

Plastometrex generates revenue through a combination of one-time capital equipment sales, annual software subscriptions, and extended warranty and calibration services. The company sells primarily through direct enterprise field sales with a feasibility trial program, supplemented by channel partnerships with testing and integrity service providers. Named customers span aerospace (NASA, Airbus, Leonardo Helicopters, DEEP Manufacturing), energy and oil and gas (Babcock, Timken, Air Liquide, XCEL, Structural Integrity Associates, Welding Alloys), additive manufacturing OEMs (Renishaw, Nikon AM Synergy, 3D Systems), and over a dozen academic and government research institutions (NPL, NASA, Oxford, Cambridge, WPI, IMDEA, BCAST, HSE).

Name

Plastometrex

Legal name

Plastometrex

Website

https://plastometrex.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Plastometrex commercializes PIP (Profilometry-based Indentation Plastometry), a proprietary non-destructive testing method that extracts full stress-strain curves from metallic materials in under five minutes. It serves aerospace, energy, oil and gas, additive manufacturing, and academic research customers with benchtop, high-temperature, and portable hardware plus subscription software.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mechanical Materials Testing Instruments

NAICS

Power-Driven Handtool Manufacturing (333991)

SIC

Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826)

akta.pro primary industry

Lubrication, Oil Analysis & Tribology Services (EUAEAKAI)

Keywords

• Indentation plastometry testing
• Mechanical testing equipment
• Non-destructive metal testing
• Pipeline integrity inspection
• Additive manufacturing testing

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambridge

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Hardware Sales: Sale of PLX product line including PLX-Benchtop, PLX-HotStage, and PLX-Portable systems. One-time capital equipment purchase with complimentary training and support included.
2. Software Subscription (CORSICA+): Annual subscription for CORSICA+ software providing access to MultiScale capability, advanced analysis features, and software updates. Includes access to new testing methods like dwell test for strain rate-sensitive materials.
3. Extended Warranty and Service: Extended warranty options and annual servicing/calibration services for PLX-Portable customers. Available for both customer facility and Plastometrex facility servicing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Plastometrex designs, manufactures and sells mechanical testing instruments and software that use its proprietary Profilometry-based Indentation Plastometry (PIP) method to extract full stress-strain curves from small or in-service metallic samples in under five minutes. The PLX product line (PLX-Benchtop, PLX-HotStage, PLX-Portable) is sold as capital equipment and supported by the subscription-based CORSICA+ analysis software and the PLXUS cloud platform for pipeline compliance records.

Product overview

Plastometrex offers a portfolio of mechanical testing products based on PIP (Profilometry-based Indentation Plastometry) technology, a non-destructive method that extracts full stress-strain curves from indentation in under five minutes. The core product line consists of three PLX devices: the PLX-Benchtop (compact laboratory system with stylus profilometer), the PLX-HotStage (add-on module for high-temperature testing up to 800°C), and the PLX-Portable (field-deployable system with optical interferometer for pipeline inspection). These hardware products are supported by CORSICA+ subscription software and the PLXUS cloud platform for data management and compliance record-keeping. The company was founded by former Cambridge materials scientists with 15 years of prior research behind the technology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PLX: Product line brand for mechanical testing systems including PLX-Benchtop, PLX-HotStage, and PLX-Portable
• PIP
• CORSICA
• CORSICA+
• PLXUS

Products and services

• PLX-Benchtop Compact 35 kg benchtop indentation plastometer for laboratories that extracts metal stress-strain curves in minutes from small and irregular specimens and can map properties across parts or welds using a stylus profilometer. Used by aerospace, AM, energy and academic research teams for mechanical testing.
• PLX-HotStage Modular hot-stage add-on for the PLX-Benchtop that generates stress-strain curves at temperatures up to 800°C in minutes, enabling high-temperature mechanical property characterisation directly on AM components without separate tensile coupons. Sold to academic and industrial labs working on hot-section alloys.
• PLX-Portable Portable indentation plastometer for in-field material verification of pipelines and in-service metal assets, using white-light interferometry and automated surface-preparation checks to deliver yield and tensile strength data with ~3.6% MAPE accuracy. Used by pipeline operators and integrity service providers.
• CORSICA+ Software Subscription software platform powering PIP testing across PLX devices, providing automated testing workflows, data analysis, results export and access to features such as MultiScale property mapping and the dwell test method for strain rate-sensitive materials. Sold on an annual subscription to PLX hardware customers and research partners.
• PLXUS Digital Platform Cloud-based digital platform bundled with PLX-Portable for automated collection, storage and analysis of pipeline testing data, supporting PHMSA Traceable, Verifiable, Complete (TVC) record-keeping with real-time data access and remote diagnostics for North American field users.

Quantifiable outcome

• 78% cost reduction vs tensile testing (Renishaw cost model)
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers36 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered key, core, flagship and foundational.

• WSP and SandbergkeyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Collaborative project to improve confidence in structural steel reuse. Testing steel properties to support circular economy in construction.
• ASTM InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025ASTM approved PIP Testing as standardized method E3499-25 in October 2025 after 3 years and 8 ballot counts with the F42 Additive Technologies Committee and E28 Committee on mechanical testing. This establishes PIP as internationally recognized testing standard.
• NikoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNikon provided comparative validation results across range of additive manufacturing alloys, showing agreement with tensile data within few percent. Key contributor to ASTM standardization process through inter-laboratory studies.
• National Physical Laboratory (NPL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNPL participated in inter-laboratory study supporting ASTM standardization of PIP testing. Tony Fry, Principal Scientist testimonial on PLX-Benchtop capabilities.
• AirbuscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAirbus participated in inter-laboratory study for ASTM standardization of PIP testing. Key validation partner in demonstrating PIP repeatability across users and facilities.
• RMS CompanykeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerInter-laboratory study using identical samples confirmed PIP results were consistent and repeatable across users and facilities. Collaboration led to dwell test method development in CORSICA 5 for Ti-6Al-4V testing.
• NASAflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerNASA collaboration presented at ICAM 2025 demonstrated PIP testing on NASA HR-1 and HR-2 alloys for liquid rocket engine applications. Marcus Gaiser-Porter presented with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. NASA used PIP to reveal 15% hidden mechanical property variation.
• RenishawkeyTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with Renishaw systems and processes. Case study on AM heat treatment sensitivity showing 10%+ yield strength variation. Renishaw cost model used for PIP savings calculator. Jed Robinson-Wall, Materials Scientist testimonial.
• University of CambridgefoundationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrigin of PIP technology from Professor Bill Clyne's Gordon Laboratory research. Dr James Dean, Dr Jimmy Campbell developed method at Cambridge. Technology exclusively licensed to Plastometrex.
• TWI (The Welding Institute)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCase study collaboration on PIP testing of welds demonstrating spatial resolution mapping across weld mechanical properties and quantification of time/cost savings vs tensile testing.
• OvakokeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCase study on characterizing case-hardened layers using PIP testing with progressive surface layer removal. Validation of PIP for industrial steel applications.
• Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Science DivisionkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative study comparing PIP, hardness, and tensile testing for failure analysis. 12 materials tested. PIP showed 3.8% mean error vs tensile vs 6.8% for hardness testing.
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCote Research Lab uses full PIP suite: PLX-Benchtop (2021), PLX-HotStage (2023), PLX-Portable (2024) for large-scale metal AM research including cold spray and wire-arc DED.
• 3D SystemskeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative study on multi-material AM interfaces presented at ICAM 2024. Testing GRCop-42 with Inconel 718 and 316L stainless steel at room and elevated temperatures.
• University of OxfordkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCase study with Professor Roger Reed and Dr. Tony Tang on PIP testing for AM alloy design space. Prof. Roger Reed FREng FIMMM testimonial.
• ROSEN, Mistras, Acuren, DNV, RSI pipelineskeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerAsset integrity service providers consulted during PLX-Portable development for pipeline applications. Input shaped surface preparation requirements and user workflow design.

Scale indicators18 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Bruker: Bruker is a major analytical instruments and scientific solutions provider with capabilities spanning mechanical testing, X-ray diffraction, and materials characterization. Comparable as a broad incumbent in materials characterization tools used by the same aerospace, research, and metals customers Plastometrex serves.
• Shimadzu Scientific Instruments: Shimadzu offers a broad portfolio of materials testing, analytical, and measurement instruments across industrial and research markets. Overlaps with Plastometrex on tensile and mechanical testing for metals, but as part of a much wider analytical instrument portfolio rather than a focused indentation plastometry offering.
• Hitachi High-Tech Analytical Science: Hitachi High-Tech provides analytical and materials characterization instruments including OES and XRF used in metals production and QA/QC. Comparable as a broad incumbent serving metals and industrial customers with established instrumentation, though focused on composition rather than mechanical property testing.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific: Thermo Fisher provides laboratory analytical instruments including spectrometers, chromatographs, and materials characterization tools used by research, aerospace, and industrial customers. Overlaps with Plastometrex at the broader analytical instruments layer in customer labs and aerospace qualification workflows.

Others

• TWI (The Welding Institute): TWI is a global welding and joining research organization that has conducted case studies with Plastometrex on PIP testing of welds. Relevant as an enabling/ecosystem player in welding research and a potential collaborative validation channel rather than a direct product competitor.
• Element Materials Technology: Element is a global testing, inspection, and certification services firm and a strategic investor in Plastometrex. Relevant as both a commercial channel for PLX-Portable in pipeline integrity services and as a large incumbent testing services provider whose customer base overlaps Plastometrex's enterprise targets.

Direct peers

• Instron: Instron is a global leader in mechanical testing equipment, particularly tensile, fatigue, and hardness testing systems for materials. Directly comparable to Plastometrex as the dominant incumbent in the conventional tensile testing workflow that PIP aims to complement or substitute.
• ZwickRoell: ZwickRoell is a leading European manufacturer of materials testing machines for metals, plastics, and composites, including tensile, hardness, and fatigue testing. Comparable as a direct competitor in lab-scale mechanical property testing equipment sold to research and industrial customers.
• Evident (formerly Olympus Industrial): Evident offers industrial nondestructive testing (NDT) equipment including ultrasonic, eddy current, and hardness testing solutions used heavily in pipeline integrity and asset inspection. Comparable as a competing in-field material verification tool provider serving the same oil & gas and aerospace inspection customers.
• MTS Systems: MTS Systems manufactures mechanical testing and simulation systems for materials, components, and structures across aerospace, automotive, and biomedical. Direct overlap with Plastometrex's stress-strain and mechanical property testing workflow, particularly in aerospace and structural materials.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Plastometrex