C-Tech didn’t start with aerospace contracts.

It started in a shed in West Auckland, building carbon fibre components for small yachts.

“I started making parts for other people at the yacht club,” says founder and Managing Director Alex Vallings. “And then it just grew from there.”

Nearly three decades later, C-Tech manufactures ultra-light, high-strength carbon fibre systems from New Zealand and Spain, supplying more than 1,000 customers in over 90 countries.

From America’s Cup yachts to structures launched beyond the Kármán line,. C-Tech delivers high-performance, precision-engineered carbon fibre solutions from advanced production facilities in Spain and New Zealand.

“From water to air to space,” Alex says. “We’re making products for marine, aeronautical and space systems.”

Engineering the last 5%

Carbon fibre is not new.

But manufacturing it precisely — repeatably — at global standards of accuracy is something C-Tech has spent decades refining.

C-Tech was built on a simple principle: performance lives in the last 5%. Through exacting tolerances and uncompromising attention to detail, they set a higher standard for composite manufacturing.

Their breakthrough was simplifying and tightening the process — using flat-table laminating combined with precision CNC machining to produce two halves of a component, then bond them post-machining. The result: sub-millimetre accuracy without the time and material cost of full female mould tooling.

For customers in aerospace, defence, and advanced engineering — where tolerances mirror metallic precision — that level of repeatability is critical.

It’s not about simply producing composite parts.

It’s about delivering engineered precision, every time.

Race-proven. Space-proven.

C-Tech’s early reputation was forged on the water.

By 2007, every America’s Cup team was using C-Tech sail battens — components that must flex, load, and survive in extreme conditions.

“It’s wonderful to see C-Tech products on these racing boats,” Alex says. “And being launched into space — you get a real kick out of it.”

For nearly 30 years, C-Tech has delivered process-driven precision across thousands of demanding applications, engineering custom composite solutions where performance and repeatability must meet exacting tolerances.

But the mindset remains the same.

“We’re good at developing new processes and evolving our manufacturing techniques to make something happen.”

Built in New Zealand. Trusted globally.

Around 95% of C-Tech’s output is exported.

Yet the business remains deeply rooted in New Zealand.

“We go under the radar somewhat,” Alex says. “But we’re producing goods and exporting them all around the world — from our little company here in New Zealand.”

That export confidence is backed by investment in capability.

Advanced CNC cutting and machining. Large-capacity autoclave processing. Precision post-machining. Integrated finishing and assembly.

“It’s really essential that we’re investing in new machinery,” Alex explains. “The customer demands are just going up and up and up.”

The company’s Spain facility strengthens resilience and reduces freight emissions into Europe, while also piloting ISO 9001 systems that feed process discipline back into New Zealand operations.

For C-Tech, quality isn’t optional — it’s structural.

Apprentices, engineers, and opportunity

C-Tech’s future isn’t just about equipment. It’s about people.

Ronan Lee, a mechanical engineering graduate from Auckland University, splits his time between CAD design and the plotting floor.

“It’s pretty cool to say I made a foil that ended up winning a race,” he says. “Or parts for aerospace.”

Mikey Little moved from marine science into maritime engineering while working hands-on in composites.

“I’m really interested in making sustainable products that make things more efficient,” he says. “Being challenged is exciting.”

Riley, a composite apprentice who previously worked on Team New Zealand’s America’s Cup campaign, describes the leap into C-Tech as opening new industries entirely.

“It’s just opportunity, opportunity,” he says. “You get to meet amazing people. You get to build something with your own hands and see it used.”

C-Tech partners with the MAST Academy and supports apprenticeship pathways that allow young people to earn while they learn, gaining qualifications alongside real-world experience.

“Manufacturing is a wonderful option for young people to get into,” Alex says.

Continuous improvement, not complacency

As demand grows, so does complexity.

C-Tech is digitising shop-floor data, improving traceability (“who made it, when, and with what materials”), and building an internal manufacturing handbook to embed decades of composite expertise into smarter systems.

Their focus is sustainable growth.

“I think the success for C-Tech in the next five years will be to continue to grow sustainably,” Alex says. “Increase our client base, diversify, and build infrastructure to support that.”

The philosophy remains simple:

Invest in infrastructure. Reinvest in capability. The customers will come.

From shed to space

From a West Auckland shed to dual-hemisphere operations, C-Tech’s story is performance, persistence, precision.

They don’t shout about it.

They just keep building.

And sometimes, those builds leave the atmosphere.

Make your move. Make your mark.

The future of advanced manufacturing isn’t somewhere else.

It’s happening at C-Tech — engineering solutions in New Zealand and Spain, delivering components that go from earth to orbit.