Self-service screens do well as firms cut staff

May 21 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal

TOUCHSCREEN maker Zytronic has managed to increase its first-half profits by 58% to just over £1m as its products continue to be popular among companies hit by the recession.

The Gateshead firm said its ZYPOS touchscreen was behind 60% of its sales growth in the six months to March 31, and had fuelled most of its business in the past couple of years after its previous focus on sales of optical filters and radio-frequency interference shields.

The firm, which employs 190 people at Blaydon, believes the new products have become popular among firms looking to cut down on staff costs by investing in automated touchscreens. It has seen turnover grow 14% to almost £8m in the six months as a result.

It said total orders were up 19.2%, with touch sensors up 41% and it had managed to add three global representatives and distributors during the period in Japan, the US Pacific North West, and Turkey. It was now looking to extend its distribution chains in South Africa, Brazil and Mexico.

The firm, which is active in the pub gaming market, is in talks to sell products to a number of technology companies and says any such deals may result in new jobs.

The opening of a £3m ZYPOS manufacturing plant in Gateshead in 2007 has also helped the company to become one of the biggest in the touchscreen market. Zytronic says relatively modest amounts of capital investment would be required in the future to increase production capacity.

It is continuing with development of the ASIC chip, which will be much smaller than its current components and allow it to branch out into other markets through the production of smaller screens and cut manufacturing costs.

Markets it is looking at include domestic appliances and vending machines, as well as the development of navigation systems for supermarket shopping trolleys, which it is trialling in the US and Canada.