A surge in demand for advanced manufacturing and 3D printing systems has paved the way for a record year for one of the East Midlands’ fastest growing industrial specialists.
Carfulan Group, which helps more than 500 companies to work smarter and faster, has seen revenues rise by 14% to £19.2million, creating six new jobs as a result.
Significant investment in boosting its sales team and several new product releases by its OGP UK, ZOLLER UK, SYS Systems, Metrios and VICIVISION brands have been behind the expansion, with the family-run business now setting its sights on meeting a £40m target by 2030.
“Manufacturing has entered a new era of global competitiveness and our customers, whether they are OEMs, tier 1s or further down the supply chain, are all looking for ways to save costs, increase capacity and improve quality,” explained Chris Fulton, who is Joint Managing Director alongside his brother Matt.
“This is where we come into the equation. Our range of advanced metrology solutions gives them the opportunity to reduce the amount of downtime in their machining operations and the confidence that the parts they are producing are going to be right, first time.”
He continued: “Then we have SYS Systems, the UK’s dedicated platinum partner to Stratasys, the world’s biggest commercial 3D printing brand.
“Our growing range of solutions helps industry harness the full power of additive manufacturing to design, refine, iterate, create and manufacture parts for clients in automotive, aerospace, fast moving consumer goods, medical, nuclear and renewables.”
Founded in 1989 by the brothers’ mum and dad Andrew and Angela, Carfulan Group has evolved into a critical partner to industry, helping it design freely, manufacture efficiently and measure accurately.
It has invested more than £2.5m in creating a state-of-the-art demonstration centre in Derbyshire, which showcases all its six technologies and software solutions including Prolink and Discus that helps with real-time data monitoring and ballooning complex drawings into First Article Inspection Reports respectively.
From this base, the company can explore how its advanced metrology and 3D printing systems can be tailored to suit the end-use of the customers, as well as offering extensive after care support, training, servicing, and maintenance.
Chris went on to add: “Getting the right people into our business has been really important to our growth, with the workforce now topping sixty for the first time.
“Recent recruitment has seen us take on experienced specialists in our field and more apprentices that are making the most of our partnership with the JCB Academy.
“This involves enrolling budding engineers into a three-year tailored programme where they attend JCB for their general engineering qualification and then have access and learning to all our different technologies. It has been a real success story!”
