Kongsberg Precision Cutting Systems (Kongsberg PCS) is today (6 April) celebrating the first anniversary of becoming a standalone company – and what a successful year it has been.

“We have achieved an incredible amount in this first 12 months,” said Stuart Fox, President of Kongsberg PCS. “Despite facing the same obvious challenges and market volatility that has affected every business, we have enjoyed an amazing and incredibly rewarding first year as a standalone business. We delivered outstanding results and released innovative new products, we have changed our go-to-market models and strengthened our customer service and satisfaction offering, and we have made strategic acquisitions to support our strategic growth,” he said.

In May last year, just weeks after the sale of Kongsberg to private equity firm OpenGate Capital was announced, Kongsberg PCS launched the smallest high-speed production table on the market, the Kongsberg C20. The latest addition to its Kongsberg C Series of digital finishing tables packs all the professional features of the market-leading range – renowned for being the most productive cutting tables available - into a compact size of just 1.6m x 1.4m.

“While the C20 is the smallest in the Kongsberg C Series range, it retains all the same professional features and specifications as its bigger counterparts,” said Stuart. “The high cost of owning or renting space is a serious problem for many in the sign and display market, but by introducing the Kongsberg C20, we made it so there is no longer any need for businesses to compromise on production and quality due to a lack of available space,” he said.

In August, Kongsberg PCS announced the acquisition of MultiCam, Inc., a U.S. manufacturer and distributor of Computer Numerical Control (CNC) cutting machines and digital finishing processes. The acquisition of MultiCam, which included its operations in the U.S. and sales offices in Canada and Germany, expanded Kongsberg PCS’ market reach and customer base across North America and Europe, creating the world’s first diversified provider of digital finishing and CNC cutting machines.

“From a customer perspective, we now have a very broad range of products – we have an offering for any application our customers might need,” said Stuart. “We now have much more powerful routers within our portfolio, so we have a solution for those customers that are working with more heavy-duty materials or indeed high volumes of sign and display materials. We also have access to more industrial and fabrication markets around the world, with customers that are using lasers, plasma, water-jet cutters, routers and in a whole variety of and industries in which Kongsberg just did not operate before.”

Similarly, the company entered into a number of new distribution deals ensuring its digital finishing solutions and service technology were more widely available, while partnerships with distribution companies have ensured more Kongsberg PCS tables are installed in demo centers around the globe.

“One of our key objectives is to make sure our customers can bring their designs to life, which is why we continue to develop robust, reliable precision cutting technologies,” said Stuart. “We have a strong new product roadmap for the coming year, which will see us developing exciting innovations in cutting tables, machines, tooling and automation.

“We have also made significant changes in terms of customer service and satisfaction in our first year, with plans to achieve best-in-class status in the future,” said Stuart. “We know that great service gives a great customer experience, and this year we have a real focus on customer service and training. We want our customers to enjoy the experience of owning a Kongsberg or MultiCam machine. We absolutely want our deployment and service to be the best, and we will put every effort into ensuring we achieve that.”

Stuart said this attention to customers and the impact it has had on the first year of the business was only possible because of the commitment of everyone involved. “The success of our business and satisfaction of our customers only comes from having this great team behind us,” he said. “None of this is possible without the service technicians, the R&D engineers, marketing, service teams, back office, everyone here,” he said.

“We’ve shown in the last 12 months that we have a fantastic team and that there isn’t anything we’re not capable of achieving together,” he said. “Following an amazing first year, with more innovations in the pipeline and our commitment to our customers, we’re looking forward to very exciting times ahead.”