Manufacturing expansion in South Devon

Crown Graphic Group announces the acquisition of Fairford Electronics , Kingsbridge based designers and producers of high tech digital devices for the control of electric motors

Manufacturing thrives in South Devon Totnes-based manufacturer of instrument charts and pens Crown Graphic Group announces the acquisition of Fairford Electronics , Kingsbridge based designers and producers of high tech digital devices for the control of electric motors.

Crown Graphic is a world leader in a mature market whose products are slowly being replaced by new recording technologies.

Continued investment in new production techniques have made it the most efficient producer in Europe.

Active sales campaigns in markets across the World from the company's offices in Totnes, Belgium and South Africa continue to gain market share from competitors.

"The time has come to move into newer products with growth potential", says Crown managing Director Julian Tope.

"Fairford Electronics produces products that are wanted everywhere that large electric motors are used, and the market is growing.

Both companies export the majority of their product and sell business to business.

At Crown we have developed a range of marketing techniques which we will be applying to the Fairford products to greatly increase their market share.

Fairford invented the digital soft starter and has an excellent reputation internationally.

We plan to invest in both sales activity and the development of additional products with a focus on energy saving".

The Crown Graphic policy of continuing manufacturing in the UK, and specifically South Devon, is good news for the Group employees, now 98 on two sites, and the local economy.

Mark Shepherd, Manufacturing Director, comments: "In common with many companies we have looked at moving production off-shore to India or China.

However when all factors including customer service and quality are considered the genuine savings do not justify the risks and upheaval.

We do make use of factories in those countries for some production but the main activity will remain focused in the South Hams.

Fairford's team of engineers is respected across the World for their advanced technologies and Crown is an innovator in lean, responsive manufacturing techniques.

Together we can match anyone in specialist markets".

Fairford products offer benefits to virtually all users of industrial electric motors, from lifts to sewage pumping stations across many industries and organisations.

The Company has a particular lead in energy optimising software which in many installations can offer significant savings in electricity consumption.

David Bennett, Managing Director of Fairford, points out that "Energy saving is the hot topic of the moment.

With the additional resources available as part of the Crown Graphic Group we will be able to complete development of a number of products focused on this area".

In another development Crown Graphic has established a US subsidiary Crown Graphic USA based in Delaware.

This corporation will act as the agent for exports to the US and Canadian markets greatly simplifying the process with benefits in service to customers and give the Company an improved visibility in this key market.

The Group already has sales of over USD2m per annum in the US and aims to increase this significantly in 2006.

The US trade is now two-way with the appointment of Crown Graphic as exclusive UK distributor for the Dickson Company of Chicago, Illinois.

The Dickson range of low cost recorders and data loggers are ideal for many applications, especially individuals and smaller companies who need to record temperature and other data to meet new regulations such as HACCP, now affecting the food industry, but who do not want to employ expensive instrumentation engineers.

Crown Graphic NV, the Belgian subsidiary, is developing a range of low cost magnetic and thermal parking tickets.

In South Africa a newly appointed Managing Director at Crown Graphic Pty, Johannesburg is investigating a range of new products and activities, including the introduction of soft starters and data loggers to African markets.

Julian Tope concludes "the future for the Group worldwide is growth through a combination of developing new products and acquiring existing companies.

We have excellent teams here in Totnes and Kingsbridge and fully intend to buck the trend by developing manufacturing in Devon to service the World, doing what my Devonian Grandfather would have called a Proper Job!".

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