Valve Magazine - Summer 2012

mation instantaneously (electronically).”
Hendrick says Conval experienced early challenges in
regards to financial set-ups. For example, “When we went
into India 30 years ago, the usual safe methods of transac-
tions like letters of credit weren’t as effective. The customer
wouldn’t necessarily sign off on the receiving of the goods so
sometimes it took monumental effort to get the money
released,” he explains. Computers changed that situation dra-
matically, he added.

For Fluoroseal, which entered the global marketplace later than the other two companies, the challenges had more to do with name recognition.

“For our very specific product, there were just two major players,” Haffar says. “But we were the newcomer, so we had to work very hard to nurture our contact network. Internationally, it takes extra effort.”

Turn it on now!

BENEFITTING FROM A WORLD MARKET Most companies agree that globalization has been a positive development for their companies and that it created many opportunities for the future.

For Fluoroseal, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was an important component of internationalization efforts. “With it [NAFTA], we started doing business with the U.S. and Mexico on a fair trade basis,” says Haffar.

In Europe, the company began by opening up a sales office
and warehouse in Germany. This kind of expansion requires
what Haffar calls a “personal touch.”
“You need to be local, so we work hard to get the right dis-
tributor wherever we go. You have to be sure they’re very
much involved in the local market, with enough coverage, and
that the distributor is loyal to the company. Getting the right
distributor is a hugely important part of the process, and
training them well has certainly paid off for us,” Haffar says.

The expanded opportunities for Velan are broad, according
to Tom Velan. “We sold [products] in 75 countries last year,
and Velan has its own production in Asia and Europe, which
has allowed production and sales around the world.”
Last year, Velan’s largest export market was China. “My
father always makes the joke that we make the valves made
‘for’ China instead of ‘in’ China,” Tom says.

Rich Oaks says several areas of business have changed drastically because of globalization. On the technical end, “The best examples are global standards that define the mechanical mounting interface between the valve and the actuator,” he says.

On the commercial end, “Many projects are global in nature and employ global sourcing. For us, that means we have to coordinate the technical product specification for a specific project between our company here in the U.S. and several global sister companies or agents,” Oaks says.

Also, globalization has brought changes that have created new layers of challenge.

According to Conval’s Hendrick, “Ten years ago, 70% of our business was done in North America. Now, 70% is done out of North America.”

8th Biennial Valve World Conference & Exhibition Düsseldorf, Germany November 27 – 29, 2012

The VALVE WORLD EXPO presents continual growth, outstanding innovations and the highest level of technology at the Düsseldorf location again in 2012. Valves and the complete range of accessories as well as valve-related technologies are the focus. As the most important event for the industry, the Valve World Conference analyzes the future of markets against a backdrop of fascinating develop- ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Turn it on! Again in Düsseldorf.