Best Use of Design in International Business

Examination and assessment experts ASPEQ collect knowledge, write questions and deliver personalised examinations on everything from flying to building.

International customers span Australia, Singapore, Macau, Mauritius, Tonga, the Cook Islands and Hong Kong and cover the aviation, transport, construction and financial sectors.

Since the business was established in 1992 ASPEQ has delivered more than 500,000 exams to 150,000 candidates in seven countries. It employs more than 300 full and part-time staff in New Zealand and Australia.

Revenue in the 2011 financial year was $9 million, half of which came from export earnings.

Aviation examinations were the foundation of ASPEQ’s business and Chief Executive Bruce Heesterman says the company uses examinations for pilots and aircraft engineers as its entry product in new markets.

Once established in the challenging aviation sector, the company’s reputation in high-risk assessments helps gain business in other sectors.

ASPEQ’s customers are typically industry regulators or training organisations. They want to assess a candidate’s learning against prescribed syllabi.

Regulators have differing needs and styles, requiring an agile response. Some assessments are delivered in-country by a locally-registered subsidiary company, while others are supplied on-line with helpdesk support in New Zealand.

The global market for high-stakes examinations and assessments is estimated at around $100 million, of which ASPEQ currently holds about nine per cent market share. It aims to have secured 24 percent market share within three years.

ASPEQ’s international success is shared throughout the New Zealand economy through work contracted for IT, accounting, legal, marketing and travel services.

Great design has lifted the performance of every aspect of Canary Enterprises’ Hamilton-based butter products business, from the milk fat content of its recipes to its office management system.

With butter as its base product and design driving constant innovation, Canary Enterprises makes everything from medallions of butter embossed with the logos of its five-star customers, to gently-scored pastry butter sheets which can snap in half to allow bakers the ability to easily create portions which match their individual recipes.

The Hamilton-based company sells into Asia, the Middle East, Australasia and the Pacific Islands where its clients include airline caterers, five star hotels, bakers and supermarket butcheries.

Director Derek Bartosh says Canary uses design to establish a competitive advantage.

It has developed personalised butter medallions to promote customer brands, created a butter rosette to gain business from a major European competitor, and developed butter ingots to provide functionality, portion control and improved food safety.

And the innovation continues into the small details of ingredients and portion size. The company can adjust its pastry sheet dimensions to suit whatever the customer’s operations require or create a blend to ensure a product’s milk fat percentage is optimal for a customer in a particular market.

There’s even good design at work in Canary’s custom-built order management system.

Mr Bartosh says Canary’s customers get a product that has been designed to best meet their needs, manufactured on plant that has been specifically designed to best make the product.

“Their order is managed through a system that is designed to have maximum control and meet the commitments made.

“It is Canary’s aim that once a customer has used product from Canary they won’t want to use anything else and they wont want anyone else to supply them.”

Canary Enterprises, established in 2001, had revenue in 2011 of $15 million, of which $11 million was export earnings.

When mechanical engineers Chris Mardon and Tom Mackenzie founded Energy Mad, they set out to develop energy efficient bulbs with a difference. They were determined to fulfil consumer demands for bulbs that were smaller, brighter, longer lasting and contained less mercury than other energy-efficient bulbs.

They also developed an alternative to halogen light fittings, requiring just 30 per cent of the energy a halogen bulb requires and lasting seven times longer.

Managing Director Chris Mardon says each Energy Mad Ecobulb saves consumers up to $240 over its life and boasts a lifespan 15 times that of a traditional incandescent bulb.

Ecobulbs sold in Australia, the United States, Germany, Spain, Ireland, China, the Cook Islands and Fiji have generated total electricity savings of $2.8 billion over the life of the bulbs.

Energy Mad decided to target consumers in these markets because of the rapid growth in sales of energy-efficient light bulbs.

Mr Mardon says the trend has arisen in response to new energy efficiency regulations which will see traditional incandescent light bulbs progressively withdrawn from the market by the beginning of 2015, and regulations which force electricity utilities and governments to implement energy efficiency.

Having recently listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, Energy Mad is now in the process of setting up an office in Europe.

In the past 18 months more than 500,000 Australian homes have installed Ecobulbs – more than 5 million Ecobulbs all up. Energy Mad has also launched innovative Ecobulb sales projects in carefully selected markets, including Germany and the state of New York. Three years ago, offshore sales accounted for just two percent of Energy Mad’s revenue. Today, Ecobulbs are available in 300 US retail stores and another 300 retail stores across Germany and Ireland. International sales are 93 percent of total revenue.

Sistema Plastics set out to create a globally recognised brand of lunch product and food storage containers with broad market appeal.

It may have taken a cautious approach to export, favouring English-speaking countries to keep negotiations simple in the early days, but it is now active in 19 countries and earning more than two-thirds of its revenue overseas.

Sistema’s 2011 revenue was $63 million, of which $46 million was from international sales. Well-known international stockists include Macy’s in the United States, Coles in Australia and Costco in the United Kingdom.

Managing director Brendan Lindsay says Sistema is a leading manufacturer in a market segment dominated by Chinese and Korean manufacturers.

“New Zealand injection moulders have continued to retrench over many years as imported products flooded in. Sistema has defied the odds and the sceptics and fought against this trend by becoming a global player.”

The company was established in 1987 and built its product range around the idea of a two litre container cut in half, quarters, eighths and sliced horizontally and vertically.

Products are designed, evolved, tested and promoted in association with key client feedback. Sistema’s range includes Klip It compact space saving containers, a dedicated microwave range and a variety of containers for lunch, snacks and storage.

The products take advantage of several trends, including increased use of microwave cooking, greater tendency to eat on the move, and a home baking resurgence requiring storage for ingredients.

Sistema is a pioneering force in its market segment. It was the first company in its category to move to 100 percent BPA free materials and a pilot on a US home shopping channel produced sales of 14,000 units in 27 minutes.

Sistema is also a supplier to Michelle Obama’s fighting obesity campaign.

Triodent conceives, designs and manufactures low-cost, high-margin products that solve everyday dental problems.

Founder and Chief Executive Dr Simon McDonald is himself a dentist and the catalyst for much of Triodent’s growth is the V3 Sectional Matrix System he developed.

A breakthrough product with several original design features, the V3 is a combination of instruments which are used to assist with difficult restorations in the back of the mouth. The system is considered the gold standard for its category, eliciting remarkably emotive responses from satisfied users, and has attracted a haul of international awards.

Other clever and original designs have followed the V3 and, with many more under development, Triodent is considered a leading industry innovator.

Dr McDonald says design is inherent in the company’s success.

“We strive for awesome design that people love, and that makes the difference between an ordinary product and a great product.”

Established in 2003 in the Bay of Plenty town of Katikati, Triodent is a wholly-owned New Zealand company with 120 staff and sales in more than 60 countries. Revenue in 2011 was $14.5 million, of which $13.6 million was earned offshore. The company’s aim is to be a $200 million company in five years.

Triodent’s main focus is the US, which accounts for half of all revenue. It has about 12,000 direct US customers – about 10 percent of the potential market.

Dr McDonald says Triodent achieves a sustainable competitive advantage through design.

“We put great store in building meaningful and long-term relationships with our customers, with our distributors, with dental schools and key opinion leaders, but all the professionalism in the world will not help a poorly-designed product, so we also focus heavily on research and development to constantly improve our products, stay ahead of the competition and develop new products.”