Coemar
July / August 2008
We all know Coemar as a well-established Italian lighting manufacturer, but it still comes as a surprise to discover just how long they have been around. Founded during the war as a manufacturer of military fixtures, the company is currently celebrating its 75th anniversary. When mondo*dr visits Coemar’s headquarters in Castel Goffredo however, it is clear that all at Coemar have their minds set firmly on the future. With the majority of its customers in the Rental and TV arena, and around 40% of sales going into high profile fixed installations, their strategy is to build products that people need and can confidently invest in.
The one blip in Coemar’s otherwise successful history came in 2001 when the company was acquired by a private equity firm. The US management that was brought in proved an ill fit with the Coemar ethos. Constant change in management led to a period of instability, which in turn took the company momentarily off track. All this changed with the arrival of Renato Molinari in 2006.
He quickly saw that what the company really needed was a strong sense of direction, and so became an ever-present driving force, encouraging the team to do what they do best: create innovative new products.
“I’m really proud to have this team,” says Molinari of his staff. “They are really good at what they do and know exactly what’s required both in terms of sales and research & development.” As proof of this, the team plan to launch five new products at this year’s LDI show.
Whilst LED technology does make up an important part of new product development, Coemar are wary of forsaking other lighting types in favour of solid state solutions. In 2007, they took a new look at moving head technology – re-examining each element of the fixture to create the Infinity Wash XL. So successful were they that the product was honoured with a 2007 PLASA Award for innovation. For Molinari it was further confirmation that they were on the right path: “That was our challenge,” he says. “To show people that not everything has been developed in the field of moving head technology.”
And what plans for the future? The main priority is to stabilize Coemars current growth, then continue to innovate, delivering lighting solutions rather than just creating novelty products for the sake of it.
The company also knows the importance of long term support in growing customer loyalty. With this in mind, they introduced Coemar Care: complete, updated, functional and comprehensive ‘tech support’ for Lighting Design professionals around the world. This is, Molinari says, what sets them apart from the emerging ‘cheap lighting’ manufacturers in the Far East.
“We don’t just want to sell, sell, sell; we want to be a leader in development and reliability. That’s our real goal.”
Coemar’s Infinity Wash fixture, delivers pure saturated reds, blues and greens using a patented new colour system (CMY-S). The new zoom feature has a range that spans from 6%u02DA to 80%u02DA and functions in narrow beam angles, similar to ACL beams. Coemar’s new colour mixing system CMY-S, mixes colours like blood red, sunset amber, forest green and dark blue but still matches standard CMY fixtures. The Infinity Wash XL provides a form of basic pattern projection and the most advanced functions of a wash. It also offers rotating patterns typical of a spot with wash brightness, making infinity a bridge between a wash and a spot fixture. In addition, the new 360º beam shaping and beam effects perform well, and the rear load FastFit technology lamp system enables easy lamp replacement.
Coemar Care provides online and telephone aftersales support for
all customers
