The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Grain sector firm’s 3D designs on growth
TECHNOLOGY: Surveying equipment in demand in distilling industry
A leading Scottish grain-handling and storage equipment maker is seeing booming demand for its 3D surveying technology in the distilling sector.
Keith company Clark & Sutherland, run by husband and wife Keith and Joeanne McDonagh, started out as an agricultural engineering business.
It has grown from a company with six employees and an annual turnover of £1.5 million to one with 35 employees and turnover of more than £4m.
Mr McDonagh said 60% of the firm’s business is from the distilling sector, with the rest split equally between the agricultural and malting sectors.
“The distilling sector has been very steady for us. Along with normal activities and grain handling, our design office has taken off on its own with the use of our 3D surveying equipment and design software,” added Mr McDonagh.
He said the 3D technology enabled the company to map out the exact size and measurements of a site, within 2mm, and also provide customers with 3D images of what the finished project will look like.
He said the company was in discussions with a major whisky company to use the 3D technology to survey all of its sites.
There are also plans to enter new sectors and Mr McDonagh said he hoped the company’s conveyer technology could be utilised in the seafood and recycling industries.
He said the agricultural side of the business had been very quiet in the past couple of years, with the exception of fitting floor drying systems for woodchip. However, business was picking up and farmers were getting in touch again to inquire about annual maintenance of products and the installation of new systems.