Data Display Co. - Kevin Neville

www.data-display.com

Location & Foundation

The company was founded in 1979 by Kevin Neville in Ennistymon, Co Clare. After initial expansion Dutch investors bought into the company and this eventually resulted in the company going public on the Dutch Parallel Market in 1985. In 1987, after a MBO by Kevin of the manufacturing facilities the company was re-branded as Data Display to reflect a new direction in the market of customisation of electronic signage. Data Display has offices in USA, UK, Portugal, France, Ireland, Sweden, Australia and the Netherlands.

Employees

130 people are employed in Ennistymon and 65 people in overseas offices. The team comprises of all disciplines; Production, Engineering (software and hardware), sales and marketing and service technicians. Turnover for 2004 was €16million. Wages are €3.2 million annually. Out of 285 suppliers, 200 companies are based locally or nationally.

Customers / Suppliers

Data Display exports 90% of its turnover. Its main markets are passenger information displays for the rail, bus and tram sector, variable message signs for highway and parking sector and cinema sign systems for the multiplex sector. One of the major growth areas in recent years is the public transport sector. Some of the significant projects with main customers either directly or through system integrators would be: London Underground; New York City Transit Authority; RATP (Paris Metro); Rotterdam Metro; Hong Kong Metro; Lisbon Underground; SNCF; Dart and Irish Rail. Some of the main system integrators would be Siemens, GE, Amey Datel, Atos, Thales.

Products

Data Display’s in-house design and production facilities, as well as the flexibility of its product range allows for a modular, customised solution for each project, from initial concept right through to project completion including the provision of new communication methods. This is important in mechanical design when working with architects to compliment the environment. In software communication, no other display manufacturer incorporates such a complete range of open protocol structures as Data Display do, which allows our products to interlink with all International Standards.

Benefits to Customers

The benefits to the customer is that Data Display can react to their specific requirements from a design brief, so the signs look aesthetically pleasing in the environment conveying a modern look. The product must also function so that the public are updated on the status of their journey. The benefit of the open protocol structure is the easy integration with all Major System Integrators. Diagnostics are a critical element for the client to ensure the functional operation of the display. This is particularly valuable in remote stations.

Scale of Achievement

A small Irish company based on the Atlantic coastline provides Real-Time passenger information to millions of customers using the rail, road and air networks world-wide. Data Display is also the biggest supplier of Cinema systems throughout the world.

Innovation / Creativity - What aspects of your operation do you regard as being particularly creative or innovative?

Our Research and Development team including our mechanical design team are continuously innovating to provide solutions to the passenger information market. This includes a design ‘look’ to make the signs smarter in appearance. The main innovation has been in diagnostics where the train operator is confident that the information shown is 100% correct. This also minimises maintenance time, which is essential in a railway environment.

Initial Expansion -How did your initial phase of market expansion occur?

Data Display had a local presence in these markets, which was essential in building relationships and partnerships with the customers. The evolution of overseas offices was a process that took many years to complete. To achieve the international success we had to start in our local market with Irish Rail and the DART before we attracted interest from overseas. In 1992 we completed the system for Lisbon Underground and in 1996 we took over a competitor who had supplied the London Underground for many years. With these references we were able to participate in Trade shows and Exhibitions making contacts with key System Integrators and railway companies. This was followed up by visits to the factory, ISO 9001 Audits and design briefs. A new factory extension was completed in 1999 with a significant increase in investment in automated production. This was necessary to have the capacity to complete larger rail projects and facilitate factory acceptance tests.

Obstacles Overcome - What are the toughest issues you deal with as you continue to grow your business?

Display Technology is always evolving for both indoor and outdoor applications. The public’s need for important information on their journey time gets more sophisticated. New markets must be constantly developed as our experience over the past 25 years has demonstrated that some markets can decline rapidly such as the airport market in 1992 and the multiplex market in 2001. We must also remain flexible and easy to do business with, as our geographical location can be a limitation. It is always difficult to win an overseas contract when there is strong competition from a local company. The challenge is to remain close to our customers and to keep up with a changing market.

Organisational Culture - How would you define the culture within your organisation?

The company has retained many key people in production and engineering with 10% having worked in the company for over 20 years.

This loyalty is matched with a flexibility that is essential for the company to compete in the international arena. The company operates a profit share scheme that includes all employees. The World Class Manufacturing programme has established teams to continuously improve and solve problems in various departments and promote team work.

Impact on Lifestyle - How do you recharge your batteries?

Horse breeding and fishing

Role Models – Have you a role model who has influenced your approach to business?

Sir Arnold Weinstock, former CEO of GEC