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Is it time to take your fabrication business global?

AT&F, The FABRICATOR’s 2017 Industry Award winner, finds opportunities overseas

Finding a metal fabricating operation with an international outpost is like finding an ethnic restaurant in Mayberry, USA. You’re surprised when you learn of it, and you’re intrigued to learn more.

AT&F, Cleveland, is one such operation. It is a majority owner of a Danish business that specializes in the design of composite armor kits that fit specific truck chassis, and it has just set up a manufacturing operation in India that will focus on large-part fabrications and assembly of those types of parts. The fabricator has gone where many of its peers fear to tread.

So why does a firm with about 250 employees even want to take on the headaches associated with running fabricating businesses on the other side of the world? It’s sound decision-making.

“We wanted to look for a hedge against foreign competition and an opportunity in foreign markets that would be a good opportunity for fabricated metal products,” said Michael Ripich, AT&F’s CEO and president.

Ripich added that management didn’t foresee robust growth ahead in certain U.S. industrial segments, such as construction and power generation, and they wanted some protection against low-cost competitors often found outside U.S. borders. That started a search for places where the team felt comfortable doing business and where market opportunities awaited.

Research suggests that this approach to international expansion makes sense. An IHS Global Insight and DHL Express survey from 2013 suggested that small to medium-sized companies involved in international markets are twice as likely to be successful as those that operate just domestically. There is plenty of opportunity in those other countries.

Of course, many fabricators are already involved in international trade. Odds are great that many job shops provide parts that end up in durable goods exported to other countries. Some even have set up operations in Canada and Mexico to be closer to customers to the north and south.

The rest of the world awaits, however, and excuses are the only things getting in the way of possible foreign opportunities.

So what can you do?

  1. Attend a foreign tradeshow. EuroBLECH, the world’s largest sheet metal technology show, is a great opportunity to meet folks from all over the world, but particularly Europe. The next event is slated to be held in Hannover, Germany, in October 2018. You also should consider attending an international tradeshow aligned with an industry segment that you serve in the U.S. For instance, AT&F Europe will debut its new border-patrol vehicle at a defense exhibition in the United Arab Emirates this month.
  2. Use government resources. Don’t laugh. The government is here to help. The Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) is set up to help you with market export. Admittedly, the focus is on exports, but the same intelligence used to support that type of decision-making might be useful in scoping out a foreign location for investment. If you are worried about not finding the right fit with the ITA, the Small Business Administration might be in a better position to understand a small to medium-sized company’s limitations.
  3. Find some trusted partners. Doing business with individuals that you know and trust makes business dealings a lot easier—no matter where the deal is going down. Ripich said AT&F’s initial interest in India came after meeting some international students during an event at Case Western University in Cleveland. The international students had pulled together presentations of what it would be like to do business in their home countries. Today some of those initial contacts have proven useful in setting up operations in India.

Meeting new people and talking about new opportunities should be the fun stuff. At that point, the only real obligation is time.

Before moving forward to the next phase, however, you need to ask if your business processes and manufacturing practices here in the U.S. can be transferred to a foreign operation. Ripich said that AT&F is trying to have its India facility, as well as its other locations, adopt similar best practices so that they operate consistently and successfully. It’s not something that occurs overnight, but it’s worth the effort because what works at one place should work at another if the environments are similar enough.

If the pieces are in place and the opportunity is apparent, the next step is the financial investment. Forget about immediate returns for the most part. The idea is to take a long-term view of the investment potential.

AT&F has a really exciting story to share. You can read about it in “Fabricating lessons stand the test of time." Hopefully, we’ll have more opportunities to share similar stories as fabricators start to export their expertise outside of North America.

About the Author
The Fabricator

Dan Davis

Editor-in-Chief

2135 Point Blvd.

Elgin, IL 60123

815-227-8281

Dan Davis is editor-in-chief of The Fabricator, the industry's most widely circulated metal fabricating magazine, and its sister publications, The Tube & Pipe Journal and The Welder. He has been with the publications since April 2002.