A Sheffield company, spun out of the University of Sheffield's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, that sells machine monitoring tools to help factories raise productivity.
FourJaw helps factories see what their machines are really doing. Its software and a small device called MachineLink collect data from machines and show it in real time, covering measures such as overall equipment effectiveness (how much of the available time a machine is making good parts), downtime, energy use and alerts. An early news story called the product a "fitness tracker for machines". The idea is that a production manager can quickly see why a machine is idle and what to improve. The company says more than 150 manufacturers use it, over half of them small and medium-sized firms.
FourJaw was founded in 2020 as a spin-out from the University of Sheffield's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC). Its founders, Chris Iveson (chief executive) and Robin Hartley, were both research engineers at the AMRC. Its stated mission is to provide "accessible technology that empowers manufacturers to achieve their productivity potential", and Iveson has said it is "on a mission to transform productivity for manufacturers and the communities they support worldwide". Its six principles include putting manufacturers first, working collectively, innovating quickly, focusing on impact and driving a more sustainable future.
FourJaw is based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. It moved from OXO House on Sheffield Riverside to Pennine Five in the city centre, a renovated 3,500 square foot office that can hold up to 50 people. At that time it had 27 people; its own About page now cites 29 employees. Customers named on its site include Caterpillar, Kyocera, Vernacare and Lily O'Briens, and its users work in aerospace, automotive, energy and food production. It thanks the University of Sheffield, the AMRC, Sheffield City Council and the South Yorkshire Combined Mayoral Authority for support.
On people and culture, the company's About page lists a team spanning leadership, engineering, product, sales, marketing, customer success and finance. It has been shortlisted at several manufacturing and business awards. Hartley was named in 2021 as one of 42 young entrepreneurs under 42 to watch in Yorkshire. Press coverage presents the founders as engineers who turned their research experience into a company and talks about creating well-paid, high-value jobs in South Yorkshire. These are the company's and local press's descriptions rather than a review of day-to-day working life.
For a student, FourJaw is a clear example of how digital skills help traditional manufacturing. Roles in a company like this include software and electronics engineers who build the monitoring tools, data analysts, customer success staff who help factories use the results, and sales and marketing people who explain the benefits. If you like both engineering and computing, or enjoy turning numbers into practical advice, it shows a route that leads from a university research centre into a growing business in your own region.
Website: fourjaw.com
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