Chat with Orange amps CEO Cliff Cooper

It’s been a busy year for Orange. The iconic amp brand has not only doubled its production efforts in the Asian market with the opening of a second manufacturing plant in China, it’s also made its first steps into both the beginners guitar pack market and the education sector. Add to that a steady drip feed of high tech new product, namely the Valve Testers and OPC (Orange Personal Computer) lines, and you can see why 2014 has been a year of particular note for the British firm.

Covering 3,000 square metres and representing a continued investment in global expansion from Orange, the company’s new factory in the Zhejiang Province of China, which opened back in July, will aim to meet unprecedented growing sales demand, while a state of the art training school for staff at all levels of manufacturing has also been incorporated to ensure consistently high stnadards of production.

“We built a factory about eight years ago in a place called Zhejiang, which is about 100km from Shanghai,” explains the firm’s CEO, Cliff Cooper. “As business grew and grew we got overloaded and, luckily, we had bought the land on either side, because it’s very expensive now – property in China – especially if it’s near Shanghai. So, on one of the other sides, we decided to construct another factory, which is approximately the same size as the first facility we built here.

“The new factory should double our production in the region,” he continues. “This market is an emerging one, as is India and South America, and I think that, although it is not an enormous market at present, it is growing very, very quickly; over the past three years we have probably grown by about 150 per cent in China.

“It [the factory] will certainly increase sales,” he continues, “because we do get behind with production. The problem that we sometimes have is, if you’re making just one amplifier, you can cut your cloth to measure, but when you’re making a large range of amplifiers, you can’t suddenly produce a large number of them.

“We make a run of them in the factory, so we might make 5,000 amplifiers of one type and then take that off the assembly line and do another run, so sometimes we do run out of stock. The new factory will certainly provide quicker delivery times.”

The firm has also taken to distributing to the Asian market from China in order to bolster its international supply chain, while a third factory is already in the pipeline, such is the demand for Orange in the region.

“We are already planning to build another factory on the other side of our main factory in two years’ time, which will be the same size as the other two.

“We are also distributing from China to Asia, now, so we have our company in Atlanta that supplies North and South America; we have Europe, with Orange UK; and now we have Orange Zhejiang, which supplies Asia. We have those three entities, which we think is probably the best way to do it. There are directors for each of the three continents and I believe that for Orange that’s the way forward.”

Unsurprisingly, the Music China expo in Shanghai has become a staple event for the brand, providing an excellent opportunity to connect with an abundance of Asian retailers. And, with three entities servicing three continents, the firm can now cater more specifically for the varying needs of each

“We come to Music China every year now,” says Cooper. “It’s a really good show and this year has been particularly good. The equipment is very popular here and this year at the show we have been visited by a lot of shops from China, but we also get a lot from Korea and Europe who come to see what products are on the market.

“We try to target the Chinese market with the amplifiers that suit their requirements, so we don’t fill it with everything we manufacture across the range; we target certain product lines.”

So, which lines are currently capturing the imagination of the company’s Chinese consumer base?

“They really like the big stacks,” confirms Cooper, “which is not so much the case in Europe and America. It’s as if they’ve gone back 20 years! So, we are pushing those quite hard at the moment and, of course, the small entry-level combos.”

At the more technical end of the Orange product spectrum, its state of the art Valve Testers have proved an even bigger hit than expected, says Cooper.

Launched back in 2013, the Valve Tester line utilises pioneering technology to match, test and grade valves, and is designed to be used by everyone from guitarists to rental companies to manufacturers, making the process of testing amp valves simpler than ever before.

“The Valve Tester is sold out worldwide now, which I didn’t expect. We’ve sold thousands of them. It’s a very clever product and we have world patents on it.

“We are finding that even valve manufacturers are now using it, and what’s happening in China especially is that almost every shop has a Valve Tester and a sign on the door that offers free valve testing, but they limit it to two valves, otherwise people turn up with a whole box of them. That product is doing extremely well for us, especially in the States.”

Elsewhere, the company has also made its first foray into the world of guitar starter packs. An already highly populated and competitive market, the decision to enter the sector was made on the condition that it was able to bring something new to the table, whilst still remaining affordable for beginners.

“The packs have been really successful and the guitars look fantastic. Normally, you might get a sample of a guitar, which is really good, and then when the production line comes they are not so good, But the production of these guitars is incredible – I think the guitar alone is worth two or three times the pack. It’s a really good guitar and we’ll be following it up with a bass guitar pack. The quality of the guitar is better than most I’ve seen in these packs – it plays nicely and has really good pickups.”

Though the company has made the headlines for a number of firsts this year, its most recent announcement was to confirm the departure of long-term managing director, Damon Waller.

Having spent more than a decade with Orange Amplification, Cooper is under no illusions as to the size of the task facing the firm in finding an adequate replacement.

“He’d been talking about it for quite a while and he decided that now would be a good time to move on. He has worked with us for 12 years and he’s done a very good job, and now he feels it’s time for him to try and work for himself. He’s experienced, he’s got the knowledge and I sincerely hope he does well. He had a good knowledge of overseas markets and that bought a lot to the brand – he signed us with some good distributors.

“We haven’t made any decisions as to a replacement yet. If we’re choosing a managing director it has to be the right person, as it’s such a big position.”

So, as 2014 draws to a close, what’s next for Orange? As the past 12 months have shown, the company looks set to continue identifying new areas of the market into which it can grow, building upon its heritage and expanding upon its multi-faceted product offering

“We are moving into the education business,” Cooper states. “We’ve developed this thing called the Orange Music Board, which is essentially like a large white board with staves. It has five microprocessors that all talk to each other and it transposes into any key. It’s absolutely brilliant.

“We held back on it while we got patents and we now have world patents for it.”

And how, exactly, does it work?

“The teacher has a wand that transmits signal to the board – there are no wires – and whatever note they touch, it plays. And you can learn any instrument on it – piccolo, cello, vocals, drums, anything. We’ve shown our Chinese distributors the product and they are very keen to move that forward.”

As evidenced by its foray into new markets this year, it is Orange’s ability to balance the old with the new that underpins much of its ongoing success.

Where some manufacturers in this market can be found guilty of resting on their laurels when it comes to refreshing both their identity and product output, Orange Amplification has continued to capitalise on its reputation as a historic British brand, whilst remaining relevant to modern day musicians of just about every style and genre.

And, with more new products expected over the coming months, it appears there is even further scope for growth in 2015.