The business took delivery of a Kongsberg X24 Edge cutting table and a Trotec Speedy 360 laser cutter, from CMYUK in April and created a new production area named ‘The Lab’ at its Musselburgh, East Lothian-based facility, in which to house it.
Installed along with new Clarity workflow, the company expects the new technology, which represents a £150,000 investment, to completely transform its finishing capabilities, eliminating bottlenecks and manual processes and freeing-up other equipment and staff.
Founded as a professional photo lab 44 years ago, Eastern Exhibition and Display evolved to become a specialist in wide-format display graphics, employing 25 staff and offering a range of products and services such as pull-up banners, exterior signage and wayfinding, stage sets, lighting and event branding, retail fit-outs, pop-ups and shop fronts, portable and modular signage systems to manufacturing for exhibitions.
Managing director Shevy Kapoor bought the company from its previous owners in October last year after joining as finance and operations director in 2019. He commissioned a business audit, carried out by CMYUK Academy manager Amira Bouchiba, and said that with the resulting recommendations, he was focused on supporting growth and profitability. Both former owners have been retained in the business.
Kapoor said: “Lockdown gave us the opportunity to review our existing processes and equipment. I was aware that jobs were taking far too long to produce, and we needed to make the correct investments.
“This audit service is something that CMYUK should be proud of, and I would recommend it to all companies. It’s really advantageous having a fresh pair of eyes look at your production processes and Amira certainly knows her stuff. As well as the new equipment, we’ve invested in Clarity workflow software which was one of the recommendations.”
Commenting on the latest investments, he added: “The Kongsberg opens new markets. It allows you to do creative things for clients, which they love. We work closely with creative agencies and I’m sure we will produce more bespoke work, which in the past we would have been very reluctant to do.
“We were cutting on a CNC router, so everything was taking longer to produce. We weren’t being efficient, production was being held up, and due to this we were reluctant to take on volume jobs. We were losing work because we were too expensive as a lot of the time we were pricing jobs with the extended labour costs factored in.”
He called the X24 a game-changer that, alongside the Trotec Speedy 360 cutter and engraver, would allow the business to develop new concepts and be more competitively priced.
Kapoor said the Trotec was almost a spur of the moment decision upon visiting CMYUK’s Shrewsbury demo facility.
The device uses Sonar Technology based on ultrasonic sensors for precision engraving and has a processing speed of 3.55m/sec with a working area of 813x508mm.
“It’s a fantastic machine which certainly wasn’t on our radar until we saw it. We have museums, galleries, and distilleries as clients, and I could really see how this could work in terms of producing a host of additional products for them. In the medium to long term, it would also be great to help us to establish our own online gifting presence,” Kapoor said.
Looking ahead, Kapoor added one of the key focus areas was on sustainable materials and ensuring the business is as environmentally responsible as possible.
He explained: “In the short term we’re looking to make the business stable after lockdown and get the new equipment in. We’re looking to build more volume and establish relationship partnerships with other companies, something that we haven’t really done before. In the medium term we’ll be introducing an online presence and engage with more clients.”
Kapoor added that he also hoped to grow the workforce from 25 to 40 or 45 over the next three years.
