Future Proof: Ceramicx, Ballydehob, west Cork

For the past 22 years, the quiet rural village of Ballydehob in west Cork has been home to Ceramicx, a world-leading manufacturer of specialist ceramic infrared heating elements and heating systems. This low profile company exports 99 per cent of its output and its single biggest market is China.

Other key customers are located in Germany, the UK, Russia, India,Turkey and the US.

Ceramicx products are used in a wide range of industrial applications by companies such as luxury car-maker, Aston Martin, and US multinational, Corning Glass, which produces the curved glass screen for Samsung mobile phones. Other blue chip customers include Rolls Royce, HP,GM and GE.

Independent
When company founders Frank and Grainne Wilson bought what has developed into Ceramicx in 1992, they had two staff. Today the company employs 56 people and sells in 68 countries through a network of hand-picked distributors.

Since 2009, Ceramicx has been on a strong growth path, with sales up 15 per cent in 2013 and a healthy order book for 2014.

Frank Wilson attributes his company's success and longevity to being fully committed to staying at the cutting edge. This has meant ongoing heavy investment in R&D, automation and new equipment – something Wilson says has been possible because he is not answerable to outside investors.

“We made a choice to remain independent and it has allowed us eliminate shareholder issues from our thinking and focus full time on our core business. We don’t have to answer to anyone for ploughing 20 per cent of profits back into the business every year.”

In 2010, Ceramicx launched HeatWorks , a magazine and web-strategy designed to keep its customers in the loop on its new products as well as developments in the wider infra red heating industry.

It has also been active in pursuing collaborations with third-level institutions. This has led to projects with the Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing, Trinity College Dublin and the University of Limerick. The company has an in- house R&D department with two full-time PhDs on its staff including Wilson’s son, Cathal.

“When you talk about futureproofing a business, there is no better way to do so than by ensuring you stay out front,” Wilson says. “This means creating added value, being innovative in both process and product development and investing in people and equipment.

“As a company we have a policy of backward integration. This is the opposite of outsourcing. We do everything ourselves in order to have absolute control.

“The problem with outsourcing is that you can eventually outsource yourself out of business,” he adds. “We are primarily a technology company and want all the technology we need to produce our products around us.

“We are unusual in that we make everything ourselves right down to small component parts. But it also means we have the ability to design and make products people want and to make them quickly. Both attributes are fundamental to staying in business.”

Cathal Wilson says the company has evolved during its history but in a positive way that has kept it sharp and focused.

“We have built a number of patented technologies for customers and have benefited from both the research associated with doing so and from subsequent royalties,” he says.

“We haven’t become too hung up on patent ownership because a patent is only as good as your financial ability to defend it. I think as a company we’re good at advanced common sense – in other words working out solutions that ensure we develop a wealth generating company.”

Frank Wilson says the economic boom was bad for Ceramicx as costs went sky high, making it difficult to remain competitive on world markets.

“We just sat it out and waited for some sense to return,” he says. “Since then, we’ve been experiencing strong growth while continuing to follow a policy of conservative financial management with minimal borrowings.”

Wilson is fiercely committed to growing his business organically and retaining the wealth it generates in his local community. “As a country, we took the decision to go with the multinationals as the way to provide jobs. We are also very good at encouraging high potential start-ups. But we fall down badly when it comes to developing wealth through our indigenous SME base,” he says.

“Compared with the UK, we do not recognise the true value of a strong inter-generational indigenous sector. This is intensely frustrating when you’re trying to create something significant that will endure for the long term.”

Ceramicx has been doing business in China for 14 years and Wilson says the relationship has lasted because of the company’s meticulous focus on quality.

Earlier this year, Ceramicx opened a British office in Cambridge. It will be looked after by Cathal Wilson.

“About 12 per cent of our business is currently done in the UK and our aim is to double that,” he says. “We feel the timing is right because the UK government has made a major commitment to redeveloping its manufacturing industry and we intend to be sitting on their coat-tails.”