Jeffrey Lamb, the New York-based senior business development manager of NZTE's Americas Beachhead programme, said the conference tomorrow and Friday aimed to help Kiwi businesses succeed in the US.

"The overall goals of this event are to provide an opportunity and occasion for the heads of New Zealand Beachheads companies - and a handful of other companies who may be considering the value of the Beachheads programme - to meet with the majority of our advisers and other experts as well as with each other.

"We have found that there is great value in group meetings and leaders of New Zealand companies networking with each other to share ideas, experiences and sometimes resources. The agenda has been carefully designed to create immediate strategic and tactical value for the New Zealand companies.

"This is the second time we have held this event and fully intend for it to be annual," Lamb said from New York. Representatives from more than 35 companies would be attending.

Peter Bull, NZ Trade and Enterprise's American director, and Greg Cross, global chairman of the Beachheads advisory board, will speak at the conference at Le Meridien Hotel.

Bridget Liddell will host a session on how North American Beachhead advisers can be of value to New Zealand companies. The conference will also examine capital raising, public relations, marketing and recruitment.

Companies represented at the conference include: Glidepath, which has supplied baggage handling systems to the North American aviation industry for more than 20 years; Wellington Drive Technologies, one of the world's leading suppliers of energy-saving motors for the refrigeration, ventilation and appliance industries; Actronic Technologies, an Avondale-headquartered business which has developed a mobile weighing system which it exports to many countries; and TimeZoneOne, a brand development and graphic design business which specialises in offering speed, creative and cost advantages to its clients. 

By Anne Gibson

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Dr Weathersby is Chairman and CEO of Genesys Solutions and a director of Holcim (NYSE), AOI Medical (LSE) and Bostwick Laboratories (pre-IPO). He was President, CEO, and Director of ERSI (NASDAQ) and Curtis Publishing (PHX).
Dr Weathersby is also past President of the American Management Assoc (AMA), and was formerly an associate Professor of Management at Harvard, and Associate Director of Planning and lecturer in Business at the University of California.

Actronic was introduced to Dr Weathersby through New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s USA Beachhead’s programme.

“We are delighted to have attracted a USA based director with such a range of experience and contacts,” Actronic Chairman Keith Oliver said. “As a New Zealand-owned company we are aware of the value of having Dr Weathersby’s US and international perspective represented on our board.

“His extensive academic background, his experience with assisting major US organisations improve strategy execution, and his involvement in hi-tech companies will be of tremendous value to a company like ours that is continually developing and refining products for global markets.”

Mr Oliver said the appointment of Dr Weathersby was the latest benefit of Actronic’s participation in Beachheads in the USA.

“We really appreciate the assistance we have received from Beachheads in the US. As the first company appointed to Beachheads China, we hope to gain a similar market advantage from the programme as we grow our business there.”

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Actronic Technologies, the Avondale headquartered mobile electronics weighing company has become the first New Zealand business to be accepted into the new China Beachheads programme run by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

Beachheads assists and speeds entry and growth of New Zealand companies into overseas markets and the China Beachheads advisory board is the newest and seventh to be established by NZTE. This year’s Budget voted $8 million to NZTE’s programmes targeting China, India and Southeast Asia.

Actronic has offices in Auckland, Shanghai, Australia, the Netherlands and North Carolina in the United States but it regards China and India as significant growth areas.

Mark Templeton, Actronic chief executive said the business had already used Beachheads in North America but three years ago the company moved into China. It has now developed a weighing system with Mandarin language displays which is being trialled with customers. The first order arrived on Thursday.

Actronic’s equipment is assembled in Auckland from imported parts. The business started 30 years ago in founder Doug Rankin’s garden shed behind his Glendowie house.

“He tells us he had to move the lawn mower to get going,” Templeton said.

In 2005 the company established a distribution partnership deal with Swiss-headquartered multinational measurement business Mettler Toledo in Shanghai. Templeton said this had been a huge help.

“Mettler have coverage in China we could never emulate in terms of regional sales and technical support for their products. In China you have to look at the country regionally, both economically and politically, to really have business infrastructure that works.

 “Mettler distributes and markets our products and we have Kevin Lai in our Shanghai office. He has worked at Actronic in Auckland and grew up in New Zealand but his family came from China. He works with Mettler around key marketing and sales opportunities,” Templeton said.

“Since we’ve put him in place the relationship with Mettler has strengthened considerably because even if you have the right partner, it’s very hard to understand the local market. It’s made a huge difference in being able to work with Mettler.”

China generates less than 2.5 percent of Actronic’s revenue but he said the potential for the company’s products to be sold in China is huge, particularly to enforce bans on railway overloading. Templeton said Actronic had $23 million annual turnover, 95 percent generated from its exports to 40 countries.

China also offered big waste and recycling opportunities, with Actronic able to measure waste going into landfills or being recycled.

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Truck Loading Quick and Accurate With New LOADRITE^® Excavator Scale

Las Vegas, NV - At CONEXPO-CON / AGG 08, Actronic Technologies, manufacturers of LOADRITE^® onboard weighing solutions for wheel loaders, announced the release of their new LOADRITE^® X-Weigh 2350™ weighing system for the global excavator market. The new LOADRITE^® X-Weigh 2350™ system increases productivity and provides a rapid return on investment by ensuring all trucks loaded to their full legal capacity. There is no time lost through reweighing, no lost inventory through overloading and no fines due to overweight trucks. Billing is accurate easy and verifiable.Read more « Back

EXPORT CASE STUDY THE ACTRONIC STORY
Having engineered its way into a leading global role in its niche market, Auckland based Actronic is now busy redesigning its own mindset. Why does the company no longer just see itself as a Kiwi exporter and what is its recipe for growth? Vicky Jane reports.
Actronic has already made the grade as a successful Kiwi exporter.  Its hydraulic weighing equipment is a market leader in major overseas markets; around 95 percent of its income is derived offshore and in the past four years its annual revenue has doubled to $20 million.

Now in its 30th year, the company is deliberately designing itself for a whole new level of expansion.  Buying back the rights to distribute one of its major products, Loadrite, three years ago started its shift from primarily a manufacturing / engineering design house to a company with global reach to end consumers.  "I guess the company had come to a crossroads," says CEO Mark Templeton.  "We had new investors on board; there was a feeling the company could become truly global and notch up some pretty impressive growth." That meant getting a better grip on where markets were heading, out-thinking competitive forces, building a better sense of connectedness with end customer needs and strengthening distibution channel partnerships.  "To grow we had to be able to expand not only geographically but extend our product range and move into new market segments."

"The way we think about it is that we are basically a global business and we need to organise our value and supply chains to best serve end customers.  In some cases that might mean shifting some manufacturing offshore or it may mean having technical support for products closer to the market.  We need to move past the mindset of being exporters who just export product from New Zealand."

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