Oiling the wheels

When engineer Jamie Shaw decided to go it alone and launch his own enterprise, there were plenty of business decisions to be made. One in particular however has left him in no doubt that it was the right one and, less than a month on, he is still reaping the benefits.

“We invested into a bespoke stand design with Smart Display, and it has already paid for itself,” says the director and co-founder of oil management specialist OMS Lubritek. “Having our stand at last month’s Interplas attracted one million per cent more people than we saw at our previous show, and we have already booked again for next time around.”

For Smart Display, working with OMS Lubritek has been particularly poignant because of a certain shared synergy between the two companies. Located just two miles apart, both were established in 2016. Both survived the impact of the subsequent pandemic despite being fledgling businesses and, as the exhibition business returns to normal, Smart Display is proud to have become an integral chapter in the OMS Lubritek story.

“I launched the business with my two then-colleagues Stuart Bogg and Paul Howley because we saw an opportunity to maximise the potential of a different type of lubricant,” says Jamie. “Just a month later, we were invited to exhibit at Interplas 2017 as part of a pavilion organised by industry body PlastikCity. It was one stand divided into ten two metre spaces, but we secured a contract with a big customer that we still have to this day. That’s when we realised that potential of trade exhibitions.”

As a three yearly event, Interplas wasn’t due to return to the NEC until 2020. However, Covid-19 hit, and the show ended up being postponed until 2020. OMS Lubritek committed to exhibit once again, but the event ended up becoming a defining moment in the company’s story.

“That edition of Interplas was a nightmare,” says Jamie. “We were working with a local company who produced our brochures and they built our stand for us. The night before the show, they put these pull-up banners in place with Velcro and, when we arrived the next morning, they were all on the floor. We had invested into a video demonstrating our new energy efficient hydraulic oil and the USB wouldn’t work on the screen we had hired. We had to resort to running the video from the laptop with a HDMI cable trailing to the screen and it just looked awful.”

After a quiet few days at the show, Jamie and his colleagues came to a unanimous conclusion.

“We agreed that, if we were going to do this again, we were going to do it properly,” says Jamie. “The investment into a trade show isn’t just the cost of a stand; it’s hotels and time away from the business and, if it is worth doing, you have to have the right presence and branding”

OMS Lubritek sought the help of Smart Display and, a few CAD designs later, the brand’s new stand was taking shape. Standing four metres high in the brand’s signature red, black and yellow, the structure seamlessly incorporated two TV screens and barrel-style seating, reminiscent of the brand’s core product.

“The whole process was fantastic,” says Jamie. “It helped being local because we could pop in and sit next to the designers while they worked. I gave them my budget and we put the initial design together, tweaking various elements along the way. I deliberated over having our logo in lights, which I didn’t go for in the end because of our budget restrictions.”

The bespoke approach meant that Jamie and his fellow directors could get back to their business, safe in the knowledge that their stand was being taken care of.

“The best thing was getting to the show the day before it opened and, instead of fighting our way through pallets and teething troubles, the stand was just there,” says Jamie. “It looked fantastic. It was everything I had envisaged. The videos worked, there were no wires – it was just so much more professional.”

Reassured that the stand was good to go, Jamie and his team prepared for the three days ahead at the plastic industry’s premier trade event. Having invested a lot more into their stand than their previous shell scheme, they were relying on the new structure attracting the business they needed to justify the cost.

Less than a month on, all three directors are still busy following up on the leads they made at Interplas 2023. So did the investment into a bespoke stand build pay off?

“Absolutely,” says Jamie. “The bespoke stand attracted one million per cent more people that we would have had with our previous shell scheme. Interplas is a vibrant show with machines running and robots spinning around, but I really felt that we had a presence. And more importantly, we had a much better presence than our competitors.

“I think what really struck me was that we were in the same square metreage and the same position as we were last time around, but it just looked so different. If I was in a competitor’s shoes looking at our stand, I would have felt envious. The quality of the leads and the potential business that we secured means that the stand has already paid for itself.”

Now as the team at OMS Lubritek catches up with its new business and new accounts, Jamie’s thoughts are already turning to Interplas 2026.

“I’ve already booked in for next time and we will be doing it with Smart Display,” he says. “But this time, I am having our logo in lights.”

Do you want to see how we can take your brand to the next level? Even if you have already booked a shell scheme, we can arrange with your show organiser to adapt this to space only. Get in touch and start the next chapter of your business.