Vision Alert Automotive Ltd’s impressive annual sales growth and several consecutive years of doubled pre-tax profits have enabled the Leeds-based safety equipment manufacturer to grow its turnover to £20m and create 45 new jobs in the city in the past 12 months.
Vision Alert has been designing and manufacturing effective and innovative lighting solutions and reversing alarms since 1994, providing customers worldwide with enhanced vehicle and truck visibility and increased safety. From beacons, lightbars and blaze bars to reverse alarms and CCTV, all Vision Alert products serve to maximise vehicle visibility and reduce accidents.In 1998 Vision Alert became part of ECCO Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of reversing alarms and lighting products and a sister company to Hazard Systems, the Australian market leader in lighting products for the emergency services. This lets it draw on a wealth of specialist expertise in warning and safety products and offer customers a complete range of effective safety solutions to safeguard pedestrians from vehicles and trucks in the working environment.
Vision Alert has a global presence and supplies safety products to 55-60 countries from production facilities in the UK, USA and Australia. In 2009 it is extending its remit by launching some exciting new products featuring technologies based on parent company ECCO Group’s recent acquisitions. Gary Richardson, Sales & Marketing Director of Vision Alert Automotive Ltd, the UK operation, spoke to Warehouse & Logistics News.
WLN – When was Vision Alert Automotive Ltd, set up and who by? Vision Alert was set up in 1994 by two former senior managers at one of our major competitors, who decided to go into business for themselves.
WLN – When did you, Gary, become involved? What were you doing before?I’ve been here since 2002: I joined as the UK Sales Manager and became Sales & Marketing Director in 2005. I was previously in the automotive industry for 20 years, most recently as Sales Director of Autolok Car Security in Oldham, maker of the well-known yellow security devices. Before that I was with Hella Lighting, on the sales side.
WLN – As the Sales & Marketing Director of Vision Alert Automotive Ltd, what is your role in the business day to day?My role has changed considerably in the last 12 months since Berwind acquired the ECCO group in November 2007. Based in Philadelphia Pa, Berwind is a private investor organisation, working behind the scenes and not involved day to day. Since they came on board, my role has become more analytical and managerial. That said, it was heading that way already, given that when Chris Marshall, the current MD, and I joined in 2002 we were on £3m turnover and now it’s £20m.
WLN – Do you get involved with individual customers? Yes, I get involved with the major accounts: our UK Sales Manager, David O’Hara, has day-to-day responsibility for the UK market, while my focus is Europe and export.
WLN – What different products does Vision Alert supply? Vision Alert’s comprehensive product portfolio consists of beacons, light bars, work lamps, reversing alarms, CCTV, blaze bars, LED accessories, warning lights, sirens, public address accessories and much more.
WLN – What is the Vision Alert philosophy? We believe in helping the customer choose the right product for the right application: it is not only paramount for maximum efficiency but vital for increased safety. With so many products to choose from, we can advise on the most popular products in each industry sector to help customers decide which product is right for them.
WLN – What do you offer in terms of products tailored to customers’ individual needs? We offer private label products for many customers and are uniquely successful in the UK after-market, with products on sale under our popular brands. In the industrial sector we work closely with Curtis Instruments: everything we do for them is under their brand. Since ECCO Group acquired Delta Design a year ago, Curtis has become pivotal for us in the industrial market, supplying OEMs of motor and battery powered vehicles.Part of our strategy is to service industry leaders through our private label business. We offer a wide variety of products, and have eight in-house engineers who can tailor our offering to customers’ specific requirements.
WLN – How do you sum up your competitive strengths? Unlike our competitors, our main aim is to provide effective solutions to our clients’ safety problems, producing innovative new products in response to real market needs. For example, the components in our range of light bars are re-configurable to deliver the best, brightest and best-looking light where needed.
WLN – Do you have any relationships with other specialist technology companies in delivering your solutions? Yes, we do, particularly with Curtis Instruments. As I mentioned, Curtis is a private label customer, and the business has developed following Delta Design coming into the ECCO Group. Prior to that we had no links with Curtis, but Delta supplied all warning and safety lighting to the material handling market through the industrial distributor, and this is a relationship that we mean to strengthen over the coming years. There are many exciting opportunities for all of us that we’re now exploring together, a good example of a strategic partnership taking us into a new market.
WLN – How big is ECCO Group? Globally ECCO Group employs over 600 people and serves OEMs and private label, fleet and after-market customers in a range of industries, from heavy construction and material handling equipment to utilities and the emergency services. Its global turnover is approaching US $100m.
WLN – Where is ECCO Group’s global HQ? ECCO Group is based in Boise, Idaho.
WLN – Where do you do your manufacturing?Vision Alert manufactures in Seacroft, Leeds, Hazard Systems in Launceston, Tasmania, newly acquired Nova Electronics in Connecticut and ECCO has operations in Boise.
WLN – How does Vision Alert fit in to the ECCO Group? All our business units operate fairly autonomously, in terms of production and engineering. Delta Design was a direct competitor to Vision Alert: Berwind is very keen to make acquisitions in this market sector and acquired ECCO Group in November 2007, then Preco and Delta Design in February 2008 and Nova Electronics in December 2008. Berwind remains fixed on acquisitions: as an investment group it’s unaffected by the current economic climate and we hope to strengthen the Group further, so watch this space.
WLN – What are your latest products?In the last 18 months we have introduced some new LED bars and CCTV products. Our new LED bars are a watchword in the industry for vehicle warning safety lights. They offer great serviceability, and come with a five-year warranty. The customer doesn’t need to replace flash tubes and bulbs and the low current draw doesn’t drain the battery when vehicles are stationary for long periods. Our Solus and Halo LED bars are ECE R65 approved: a lot of other products in our range also conform to this standard, but these are our first LED products to achieve this Holy Grail. The new Solus products are under the Delta Design brand: Halo are Vision Alert-branded.Our CCTV range is made to our spec by a manufacturing partner and was launched 18 months ago. We’ve also created a Delta Design-branded CCTV range for our portfolio, to strengthen the brand.
WLN – What’s happened to the Delta Design business?It has been absorbed into our Leeds operation.
WLN – Will you keep the Delta Design name going?Yes, we will. We’ve invested in the Delta Design brand and in the new products carrying the name, and will continue to do so. We’re good at handling brands, and understand how they work.
WLN – How can people find out more about your portfolio?Our new catalogues for both Delta Design and Vision Alert are hot off the press this month (March) and can be requested from Customer Services or downloaded asPDFs from www.deltadesign.co.uk and www.visionalert.com
WLN – Which different industry sectors do you supply your products to in the UK? Our ‘over the road’ sectors cover automotive; truck; recovery vehicles; emergency services – here we’re very specific, and have probably 95% concentration on amber warning safety lights; earth moving and construction; and the industrial market is opening up for us through Delta Design.
WLN – What proportion of your UK turnover comes from materials handling equipment and warehousing and logistics operations? Some 10-11% is materials handling and warehousing & logistics. As with the manufacturing sector, it was all developing well until a few months ago. The economic downturn has certainly affected the market, but there are still plenty of long-term opportunities.
WLN – Which specific products do you supply to the UK materials handling industry to fit on forklift trucks and warehouse trucks? The products we supply to the materials handling industry include industrial beacons, reversing alarms and vehicle-mounted work lamps.
WLN – Where do you make the products you sell in the UK? The majority of our lighting products are made in Leeds; our alarms come from Boise; we also use manufacturing partners as required. We do all engineering and final assembly ourselves.
WLN – How do you supply your products to commercial vehicle customers? We sell direct to OEMs. Vision Alert is also represented on a national basis by an extensive network of independent motor factors and auto electrical specialist distributors.
WLN – Can you name any of your UK ‘CV’ customers? We supply the AA and other emergency organisations, and are well represented in the other sectors.
WLN – How do you supply customers in the warehouse and logistics industry? Who are your distributors in this sector? This is where Curtis come in: they’re one of our strategic partners taking us into the ‘W&L’ industry. We supply most leading industrial truck OEMs, either directly or through third-party partners.
WLN – What quality standards are your products made to? All our products have to pass rigorous water spray, dust, dirt and vibration tests. Our heavy-duty alarms carry a “life of the vehicle” guarantee, and many of our LED directional strobe lights are guaranteed for five years. Applicable standards are chosen depending upon customer requests, market requirements and legislation, and may include some or all of ECE Regulation 65: Directive 95/54/EC: Directive 89/336/EEC: and IP Rating. As a company, Vision Alert has demonstrated its dedication to quality, customers and a willingness to work towards improving efficiency by achieving ISO 9001 certification, working towards ISO 14001 and embracing the Six Sigma philosophy at every level of the business. We operate an accredited ISO9001 manufacturing and design facility in Leeds to ensure our products meet the most exacting standards.
WLN – What technical support do you offer to customers and distributor partners? Our Technical Support Service can provide advice on existing products and discuss future requirements. Vision Alert products are at the forefront of technology and designed to be practical, reliable and aesthetically pleasing. Our Engineering Department is a key component in our being able to offer bespoke product configurations and new designs to meet our customer’s requirements.
WLN – How is the current economic climate affecting demand for your products? Over the last six years we’ve grown rapidly, in double-digit figures. We’re still growing but not as aggressively, due to the economy. We’re still buoyant in the factory, though, and the order books are looking good.
WLN – What other external factors do you see having an impact on your UK business? Our products are based on the Health & Safety requirements that today’s organisations have to meet, and are more of a necessity than an option, which is a good place to be.
WLN – Finally, where do you see Vision Alert Ltd going from here?Given the current level of activity in our group in terms of acquisitions and changes of ownership, and our parent company’s aggressive acquisition strategy, it’s a very exciting time, and we certainly won’t be the same company five years from now. We’re continuing to access new customers and new countries in Europe, which is starting to overtake the UK as a business area and is likely to develop further.
Vision Alert Automotive Ltd
tel: 0113 237 5340
www.visionalert.com
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