Improved Competitiveness Drives Growth in Every Sense for Phonovation

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 “I knew that there must be a better way of working and I went to Enterprise Ireland and said we had an excellent team, but we weren’t changing fast enough. They said there was only one answer: to go LEAN.”

 

Key Takeouts:

  • Automated voice and business SMS provider Phonovation undertook the LEAN transformation programme in 2015.
  • Profits have increased year-on-year since completing the programme: 150% in 2015, 240% in 2016, and 140% in 2017.
  • Phonovation’s growth shows no signs of stopping, with over 200 million messages a year going through their software each year.

Case Study: Phonovation

In 2015, automated voice and business SMS provider Phonovation decided it needed to change in order to become more competitive. That’s what led the company to begin working with Enterprise Ireland on a LEAN transformation programme.

Phonovation was already the leader in its field in Ireland, but Chief Executive Gavin Carpenter believed a step up in performance was necessary.

“I had completed a masters in management in UCD in 2013,” he explains. “I knew that there must be a better way of working and I went to Enterprise Ireland and said we had an excellent team, but we weren’t changing fast enough. They said there was only one answer: to go LEAN. A development adviser came out to us and explained it. There was complete buy-in to the concept from everyone here.”

Implementing LEAN drives dramatic growth

Growth since then has been little short of dramatic, with profits climbing by hundreds of percent since 2015.

“It has been incredibly powerful for us,” Carpenter says. “Profits increased by 150% in 2015, 240% in 2016, and 140% in 2017. We have also increased staff numbers from 16 to 26 in that time. We have grown in every sense thanks to our improved competitiveness.”

Phonovation was the first company in Ireland to provide premium-rate telephone services for TV, delivering services for popular programmes like Where in the World and The Late Late Show.

“We started to roll out business offerings in 2005,” says Carpenter. “Running premium-rate services for TV shows and so on gave us the ability to handle very large volumes of calls. We could run the service for TV in the evenings and offer business services during the day. We quickly became the largest SMS application to person (A2P) provider in Ireland. When your bin company texts you to let you know when your collection is due to take place, that’s A2P. Over 200 million messages go through our software each year.”

While consumers may be sending fewer text messages, SMS has seen year-on-year growth every year since 2011, mainly due to increased business usage.

“SMS is very effective at generating reaction and response,” Carpenter explains. “There is a 95% reaction rate for SMS, as opposed to 15-20% for email. It’s expected to continue to grow until the mid-2020s. During the winter storms, we were sending one million messages a day to parents around the country, letting them know about school closures and reopenings. It’s an essential service these days.”

Working with Enterprise Ireland on LEAN

Working with Enterprise Ireland on the LEAN programme brought about considerable efficiency improvements.

“It taught us how to identify and attack waste in the business. There are seven types of waste and each of them feeds into each other. Overprocessing is typical in IT, for example. You might build a website for a customer that does seven things when the customer only wants five. 20% of the time is spent doing things that are not needed. Waste is anything that doesn’t deliver value to customers.”

And the elimination of waste has delivered enhanced competitiveness.

“When we talk about competitiveness, we talk about delivering value to customers while still making a profit. Every sale we make is based on return on investment. That makes us very competitive. We tell customers how much they will save, or how much additional revenue they will generate, as a result of using our solution. One of our largest customers has a return on investment of seven to one from our solution – for every €100,000 they spend with us they make €700,000 in additional revenue. It makes it very easy to close deals. We put a huge amount of effort into delivering the maximum return on investment for customers.”

The future will see a mix of domestic and international growth as well as new product introductions. “We are going to grow overseas, mainly through Irish customers with international footprints. We have also developed a fintech product, which is a security solution for SMSs sent by banks. It is used by one banking customer in Ireland already and we were recently in Frankfurt with Enterprise Ireland presenting it to banks there.”

Learn more about Enterprise Ireland’s Competitiveness supports here.

How Focusing on Competitiveness Drives Innovation in vStream

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 “Because we are selling something innovative we have to be as efficient as possible in order to get the value out of what we charge clients. That’s very important when you are creating ‘world firsts’, as we often are.”

 

Key Takeouts:

  • The recession in 2008 prompted vStream to develop a presence in the UK sooner than planned.
  • 70% of vStream’s revenues come from outside Ireland, including international sports teams and global software developers.
  • Management worked closely with Enterprise Ireland to develop an operational strategy, as efficiency is key for a creative agency.

Case Study: vStream

By boosting its competitiveness Dublin-based vStream is spending more time innovating and less time administrating.
The award-winning experiential technology company creates immersive consumer experiences for big-brand customers.

Set up in 2007, one of vStream’s first Irish commissions was a 3D rugby and soccer fan experience created for Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. The personalised, stereoscopic adventure allows visitors to the stadium to be individually called up to play for Ireland, and to do so ‘virtually’.

In 2008, the recession prompted vStream to focus on competitiveness and develop a presence in the UK sooner than planned. It paid off, resulting in a major commission from the Westfield Shopping Centre group to create world-first experiences, from ‘5D for Christmas’ to clickable video content for Spring-Summer shoppers, launching in Westfield Stratford City, one of Europe’s largest shopping centres.

Commissions from further afield followed, including work for the San Francisco 49ers – an American Football team – and the US Super Bowl.

Today, 70% of vStream’s revenues come from outside Ireland. The company has worked with global brands such as Formula One teams McLaren and Mercedes F1, and enterprise software maker SAP, using leading-edge technologies, such as Augmented and Mixed Reality and gestural holographic interfaces, the kind found in Tom Cruise movies.

Using Microsoft HoloLens, vStream recently created a holographic, interactive tour guide named Simone to demonstrate one of carmaker Audi’s newest high-tech models, a world first.

At vStream’s core are the complementary skills of co-founders Niall O’Driscoll, a creative director, and Andrew Jenkinson, a technologist.

Working with Enterprise Ireland to boost operational excellence

“What we do has always been very different and big brands are always trying to tell their story in a new way,” says O’Driscoll.

It’s a competitive space, however. Management at vStream has worked closely with Enterprise Ireland to implement operational excellence. “There are other companies in our area. They don’t look exactly like us but we cross over a number of different competitors,” says O’Driscoll.

Creativity drives innovation at the company and if the technology required to deliver an experience doesn’t exist, “we build our own”, he says. To ensure vStream has the resources to do so, operational efficiencies are vital.

“Because we are selling something innovative we have to be as efficient as possible in order to get the value out of what we charge clients. That’s very important when you are creating ‘world firsts’, as we often are.”

vStream drives competitiveness from concept through to delivery

The company recently introduced 10,000ft, a resource management and time-tracking software programme. “It allows us to track hours and integrates with our accounts process. We are trialling it as part of changes to our internal management processes designed to boost efficiencies and drive competitiveness across the board, from concept through to delivery.”

The company has also introduced cloud-based collaboration tool Slack. “Email is unwieldy, especially long chains of emails. Slack allows us to organise our communications much more efficiently.”

Much of vStream’s intellectual property has been patented and future revenues will increasingly come from licensing its technology around the world. Here, too, Enterprise Ireland funding has helped.

“We had created all this value but had realised only a small amount from our IP. We have done the R&D, proved our product in the market, now it’s about taking it out to compete in as many markets as possible. Future growth will come from exploiting that IP commercially and we are hiring someone now to help us make that move from being a projects-based to a services-and-products-based-company,” says O’Driscoll.

vStream drives competitiveness from concept through to delivery

He knows that to win in a global market no company can afford to carry excess weight.

“You need the flexibility to be able to diversify as we did during the recession,” he says. “The market shifts and changes all the time and to compete you have to be efficient and innovative enough to turn on a dime.”

Learn more about Enterprise Ireland’s Competitiveness supports here.

Strong Strategy Key to Combilift’s German Market Success

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“Having Germany as a good reference has helped to build our credibility in other export markets – customers think if German companies are buying our product, it must be good.”

– Martin McVicar, Managing Director, Combilift

Key Takeouts:

  • Exporting proved easier than domestic sales from day one.
  • Selling direct before appointing a distributor was an effective strategy.
  • Europe has delivered more sustainable growth than BRICs.
  • Enterprise Ireland provided credibility and on-the-ground support.

Case Study: Combilift

German clients have been the easiest to convince and as a market, Germany has been one of the easiest for Combilift to crack and grow in – compared to Italy or Spain – according to managing director of the company, Martin McVicar.

“The reason for this is that Germans are very analytical and open to innovative products when they can see a visible benefit – for example, when it will make them more efficient,” he says.

“Having Germany as a good reference has helped to build our credibility in other export markets — customers think if German companies are buying our product, it must be good.”

McVicar established Combilift in Co Monaghan with Robert Moffett in 1998. Both were highly qualified engineers with decades of experience between them. Their expertise, knowledge of the market and practical experience led to the development of the Combilift — an innovative long-load material handling solution.

By the end of its first year, Combilift had sold 18 units — 17 of which were in the export markets of the UK, Norway, Belgium and France. To date it has sold 35,000 units in 75 different countries and has developed a range of customised handling solutions.

“In our first year, we did sell one unit locally in Co. Monaghan, but strangely we found it easier to sell into other markets as a start-up in development stage”

“Customers in Norway, for example, didn’t query how big or small we were – they just saw that our product was innovative and solved an unmet need.”

A traditional forklift drives backwards and forwards and is manufactured by major players such as Toyota and Mitsubishi. Recognising that they couldn’t compete directly with these manufacturers, McVicar and Moffett were focused on innovation from the beginning.

“One of the unique selling points of the initial model was that it was multidirectional – it could also move left and right – allowing customers handling long products to transport them in a sideward direction, like a crab movement” McVicar explains.

“Nobody had developed a product like this before — one that could operate both indoors and outdoors. Our forklift could handle any length of product in a small space and handle it with more safety.”

Combilifts’s Partnership with Enterprise Ireland:

  • Availed of Enterprise Ireland R&D supports since it was first established in 1997.
  • Benefitted from introductions to English-speaking distributors in Germany.
  • Participated in trade missions that helped secure new key customers.
  • Boosted management capability with the Leadership for Growth programme.

To see how Enterprise Ireland has enabled Combilift’s success, click here.

The direct approach

McVicar and Moffett recognised from the outset that as a manufacturer of materials handling equipment Combilift had to be focused on exports; the UK and Ireland alone would not sustain the business.

They were very targeted in terms of the type of customers they went for — specifically the segment of companies with long products, such as timber producers. “We knew the big players weren’t specialised in the long-load market. We started in mainland Europe; then went into the UK. We went into the US and Germany in year two, which meant we had broadened out to six countries,” says McVicar.

In the early years, Combilift entered countries quite quickly, directly targeting specific industries and customers and not actively looking for distributors. Taking this route led to distributors seeking the company out. “When distributors in a given market can see there are already a number of users of your product, it convinces them of its quality and they are much more likely to be successful in selling it than if you knock on their door,” notes McVicar.

“We made mistakes in some markets, taking on distributors that promised the sun, moon and stars and we went nowhere with them. Finding users first and appointing or looking for a distributor afterwards proved to be a much more successful strategy.”

In Germany and France, Combilift purposely appointed English-speaking distributors to speak to local clients on its behalf. It didn’t invest in language skills in Ireland, but placed sales people fluent in languages on the ground in different markets. There are currently three based in Germany.

“Germany has better spoken English generally than other European countries. If you can speak to the owner of a dealership in English you are more likely to make a fast impact in that market,” says McVicar.

Combilift is in the process of building a new €40m, 46,000 sq ft greenfield operation in Co. Monaghan, which will allow the company to double its production in a single shift. This is planned to be operational in 2017. Presently, Combilift employs a total of 440 people and recorded turnover of €200m last year.

 

Linesight Maximises Data Centre Opportunity in the Netherlands

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“We had started doing a lot of data centre projects for US multinationals in Ireland so we decided to look at the Netherlands as Amsterdam is a hub of activity for data centres.” – Paul Butler, director, Linesight

 

 

 

Key Takeouts:

  • Enterprise Ireland trade missions and market introductions a key success factor.
  • Excellence in service and personnel a key differentiator and competitive advantage.
  • Dutch data centre business a bridgehead for growing other sectors and European markets.

Case Study: Linesight

Five years ago Dublin-headquartered firm Linesight decided to go on fact-finding missions to the Netherlands with the help of Enterprise Ireland. It was a move which has led to around 70% growth in its fee base in that market since then and an increase in its team based there from four to 30 people.

Linesight provides professional services and strategic support to the global construction industry. Projects span a range of industry sectors including commercial, data centres, life sciences, healthcare, transportation and infrastructure and retail.

Originally established in 1974 as Bruce Shaw, Linesight rebranded in 2016 with a view to having a name that could be owned in all markets. The name Linesight was inspired by the company having its clients’ goals in their direct line of sight from initial concept through to successful project completion.

With staff located across Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and North America, Linesight increased its global headcount by 135 and recorded turnover of about €60m for the group in 2016. It now has 17 offices around the world and has delivered projects in 40 countries.

Linesight’s growth in the first 30 years or so was mainly focused on Ireland and the UK where it established a number of offices. When the recession hit in 2008, it had built up a 25% market share in the domestic market for professional services to the construction industry. It had also generated a limited amount of international business.

The downturn in construction at home prompted the company to look at international markets more keenly and the Benelux region – and the Netherlands in particular – seemed a promising area to focus on. It had worked on five or six small projects there, but further to building up expertise and skills in data centre projects it saw an opportunity.

“We had started doing a lot of data centre projects for US multinationals in Ireland so we decided to look at the Netherlands as Amsterdam is a hub of activity for data centres,” says Linesight director Paul Butler.

“In addition, a lot of pharmaceutical multinationals were starting to set up subsidiary plants in the Benelux region. We recognised that we had the relevant in-house expertise and key staff delivering professional services in these areas. We wanted to retain that staff and the Netherlands was of particular interest to us.”

 

Linesights’s Partnership with Enterprise Ireland:

  • Attended a series of Enterprise Ireland workshops on data centres.
  • Benefitted from introductions to the market/local contractors organised by Enterprise Ireland.
  • Participated in Taoiseach’s trade mission to the Netherlands and Germany.

To see how Enterprise Ireland has enabled Linesight’s success, click here.

Competitive advantage through people

Over the years Linesight had established a partnership approach with clients based on consistency and clarity, and it has a proven track record in terms of quality and timely delivery of projects. This stood to the company when it came to building business in the Netherlands.

“For some of our clients developing projects in the Dutch market we were preferred bidders and travelled there with them as part of their team, offering the same service as we had in the Irish market,” Butler explains.

“Other projects involved competitive bidding as companies may have had their own in-house auditing functions – but we were also very competitive in winning that work.”

Some multinational clients even requested that certain individuals from Linesight work on projects with them in the Netherlands, Butler adds, “Our people are key in terms of generating repeat business. Senior project managers see projects through from cradle to grave and directors oversee projects on a 24/7 basis. The personal relationships built up over time have been very important.”

The Netherlands has been a relatively easy market for Linesight to enter as English is widely spoken and its framework in terms of contracting is similar to Ireland’s. “Being fluent contractually is a different thing than being able to speak a language. In other European countries language can be a barrier in this respect. We demand that contractors deal with us in English in the Netherlands,” says Butler.

That being said, once Linesight started to focus on the Dutch market, it invested a lot of time in ensuring it had the right contractors and partners to deliver projects to the standard required. It also had to get to grips with different regulations in relation to construction, planning codes and timeframes.

“Even within the Netherlands different regions are more regulated in terms of construction. For example, near the German border there is still a lot of heavy industry, which contrasts with the Amsterdam area,” says Butler.

“We had to stretch our web of contractors beyond the Amsterdam area. Now we have a high level of tried and trusted partners in the Netherlands that we know will deliver for us.”

Now that Linesight is established in the Dutch market it is looking at new opportunities within its existing client base, such as in the retail and pharmaceutical sectors. It also wants to take advantage of some new areas, in particular in relation to the local supply chain and newly built logistics centres.

“There are some very good companies competing with us for business. What differentiates us, in addition to our people, is the fact that we are an all-in company that can provide cost management, project management and risk assessment. This is vital for a lot of big multinationals,” notes Butler.

“A significant proportion of our people have backgrounds in civil, electrical or mechanical engineering – so our service is not just about number crunching, they can understand the design. They can go through drawings with clients in great detail and are fluent in engineering language.”

Gaining a foothold in the Netherlands has led to Linesight building business in Germany and Belgium. Once clients’ projects are completed in the Netherlands, it has extended its network to continue working with them in other locations.

“They want the consistent, clean approach of dealing with us, rather than having to educate a new local provider in their needs and ways. The flexibility of our people and operation has been key to our success.”

Top Tips for Exporting to Europe:

  • Be flexible and adapt to the needs of major multinational customers.
  • Build a strong local presence to really be successful in a market.
  • Harness the Irish mentality of ‘getting the job done’.

For more details, click here.

How PerfectCard Found the Perfect Incentive for Market Discovery

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 “You can’t just go into a market the size of the UK believing you will do the same things you do in Ireland. We decided to target the reseller market for our incentive product in the UK. Going the reseller rather than the direct route will increase our reach greatly.”
Natasha Brasier, PerfectCard

Key Takeouts:

  • PerfectCard is a gifts and incentives tool for both customers and employees.
  • An Enterprise Ireland market research grant helped PerfectCard pick the right strategy for entering the UK, targeting resellers instead of a more direct approach.
  • They won a place on the Enterprise Ireland Innovation for Growth Programme, which grew their UK presence and led to two new partners.

Case Study: PerfectCard

Founded in 2006, PerfectCard has established itself as a leading gift and incentives brand, with its distinctive cards widely used by shopping centres and retailers around Ireland as a gifting solution. Over the past decade the company has expanded and developed its offering to include employee and customer incentive products and has just launched Pecan, a new employee expenses service aimed primarily at Small and Medium Enterprises.

The company has also been preparing the ground for significant growth in the UK market, principally in the incentives area. “We already have customers in the UK and are about to dedicate more resources to growing sales there”, explain PerfectCard business development manager, Natasha Brasier.

The acquisition of a Galway-based IT company some years ago played a critical role in this strategy. “The acquisition allowed us to introduce additional features and benefits”, says Brasier. “For example, customers using the cards to reward employees were able to load them onsite. The solution allowed us to start selling into the UK market. Our customers include a number of Irish- based companies with overseas offices that started using our solution in other markets.”

PerfectCard was the first company in its space to receive e-money authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland, which is also facilitating its international growth.

Enterprise Ireland support has also been crucial, with the company participating in the Innovation for Growth Programme, while Brasier will shortly complete the Enterprise Ireland-sponsored international sales programme at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT)

“A few years ago, we also received a market research grant to research the UK market and some great advice through Enterprise Ireland”, she adds. The grant helped the company to assess the best route to market to reach their target customers. The company subsequently developed a much more structured sales process and approach for the UK market.

“You can’t just go into a market the size of the UK believing you will do the same things you do in Ireland”, says Brasier. “We decided to target the reseller market for our incentive product in the UK. We have a few companies using the product there, but going the reseller rather than the direct route will increase our reach greatly.

“The response has been very good, and we have identified two potential partners to work with. They recognise the value of having a separate staff rewards card to pay bonuses or other incentives. It shows that a bit of thought went into it. If it gets paid through payroll it disappears, but if the cash is on a separate card, employees can spend it straightaway or use it to save up for holidays or other treats.”

The intention after that is to grow the business out. “Once customers start using our incentive card solution it will be relatively easy to cross-sell our other products, such as Pecan.”

The launch of the Pecan product in the Irish and UK markets is a particular area of focus currently.

“Pecan will give SMEs and their employees much greater control over expenses. The card can be used to pay for employee expenses and the company gets to view expenditure in real time. The software also allows employees to take pictures of receipts and upload them, thus making reporting much easier.”

Click here to learn more about Enterprise Ireland’s Diversification supports.

Innovation and Tradition Combine in Oakpark Foods Winning Formula

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“We are now a key player in the UK market and have contracts with Morrisons, Aldi UK and others. We had to make a substantial investment in our factory, technology and management team to do it and it wouldn’t have been possible without Enterprise Ireland support.”
David Brett, Oakpark Foods

Key Takeouts:

  • Oakpark Foods availed of Enterprise Ireland’s food innovation supports to improve their packaging and develop new products.
  • It has enjoyed significant growth in recent years, largely driven by exports, but sees Brexit as a major issue.
  • The company now employs almost 100 people, with annual sales of just under €31 million.

Case Study: Oakpark Foods

Oakpark Foods has established itself as a leading bacon products supplier in the hugely competitive British retail market. “40% of our business is now in the UK,” says general manager David Brett. “We have been able to differentiate ourselves from our competitors there by using innovative packaging, clever new product development, and bespoke unique cures.”

The Cahir, County Tipperary-based company is part of the family-owned Brett Group, which has been supplying farm inputs in the region for almost 80 years. “We are now in the fourth generation,” he says. “The business dates back to the 1940s. Our core business is animal feed manufacturing. We sell dairy, pig and ruminant feed to famers around Leinster and Munster.”

The company acquired Oakpark Foods in the early 1990s. “Back then it was a small operation supplying local supermarkets and shops with bacon products. When we came on board we looked at how we could add value. After that, the opportunity came up to buy the nearby Sunglen Pig Farm which produces 800 pigs a week. Our mill in Callan in County Kilkenny manufactures the pig feed using a bespoke diet; this is then fed to our own pigs on our farm; and we produce top-quality consumer packs of bacon joints and rashers at Oakpark. This gives us unique seed to fork provenance.”

Oakpark has enjoyed significant growth in recent years, largely driven by exports, according to Brett.

“We are now a key player in the UK market and have contracts with Morrisons, Aldi UK and others,” he adds. “We had to make a substantial investment in our factory, technology and management team to do it and it wouldn’t have been possible without Enterprise Ireland support.”

The breakthrough into the UK was also facilitated by the growth of the discount chains in Ireland. “We supply both Aldi and Lidl here and they introduced us to the right people in the UK. That was a great help. But we also had to invest in a very significant R&D programme and we introduced a number of first-to-market products there. We used packaging technology to extend the shelf life of our products, we developed a new-style American streaky bacon product, and we also introduced 50 per cent fat-reduced lardons which appeal to increasingly health-conscious consumers.”

All of the R&D was carried out inhouse with Enterprise Ireland support. “It was a lot of hard work, but it had to be done. If we didn’t have a different story to tell we would have just been another bacon supplier.”

The company now employs almost 100 people, with annual sales of just under €31 million and is implementing a strategy to grow turnover by 33 per cent over the coming years. That strategy also takes Brexit into account.

“Brexit is a major issue for everyone involved in the food industry and we have to make our business as lean and efficient as possible in response,” he points out.

The bacon business will not suffer to the same extent as others, however, as Brett explains. “80% of the bacon sold in the UK is of EU origin and British people aren’t going to stop eating bacon overnight. The traditional bacon butty will remain a staple part of the diet. But Brexit is a serious issue nevertheless and we have done a lot of scenario planning. Selling into the UK will not be as simple as it is today. That’s a given.”

The company is not going to rely on a continuing taste for bacon in its key export market and is investing €5 million in a new facility in Clonmel with Enterprise Ireland support. The new manufacturing facility will produce a new range aimed at mainland Europe and further afield.

“It’s a completely new venture and will be up and running very shortly,” says Brett. “We are diversifying away from the UK market. The UK will remain important to us though and we are in there for the long haul. We have one of the most efficient slicing lines in these islands. That’s vitally important. In the end, it’s all about the price of a packet of rashers.”

Click here to learn more about Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation supports.

Broderick’s Bars: From One Kitchen to 30 countries

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“We wanted to create something different in terms of its taste, its packaging, the branding and the format. We were aiming at export markets from the very beginning and we knew that we needed a great product if we were going to succeed.”
Barry Broderick, Co-Owner Broderick’s Bars

Key Takeouts:

  • R&D funding and Growth programmes allowed Brodericks to commit the time, people and finances to research projects.
  • Growth programmes offered by Enterprise Ireland taught them about best practice, scaling and growing exports.
  • Broderick’s range of cakes are now exported to 30 countries and available on many international airlines.

Case Study: Broderick’s Bars

The Broderick’s range of cake bars and mini-bars are now exported to 30 countries around the world and can be found on the menus of a number of leading international airlines, including American Atlantic and Delta Airlines. The company, which recently moved to a purpose-built manufacturing facility in Tallaght, employs 110 people.

This is just the start, according to co-owner Barry Broderick, who adds that innovation has been at the very heart of the business since it began life as Ina’s Handmade Foods in 1994.

“The business started out in my Mum’s kitchen when my brother Bernard and I were kids”, he says. “We got involved as unpaid labour back then and have been working in it ever since. Back then, we produced a range of cakes for coffee shops and the food service sector generally. We always used Belgian chocolate and butter, and saw the opportunity for a premium grab and go offer using those base ingredients. That’s where the idea came from initially.”

Barry and Bernard then set about developing Broderick’s Bars. “We wanted to create something different in terms of its taste, its packaging, the branding and the format. We were aiming at export markets from the very beginning and we knew that we needed a great product if we were going to succeed. You have to have a product that people are interested in and that they want to buy again. You need to have a USP, and innovation is so important to that. You can’t stand out from the crowd without it.”

He appreciates the support Enterprise Ireland has provided over the years. “Enterprise Ireland has been a very good partner”, he says. “They really try to help you to achieve your ambitions and are very good at helping you scale a business. They mentor you through the growing phase of the company. They help you put the structures in place to build the business. Their Management for Growth and Leadership 4 Growth programmes have also been really helpful. It’s really about bringing best practice to your business, so that you can scale your business and grow jobs, and grow exports.

“On the R&D side, it’s very good because it enables you to realise the importance of R&D and innovation”, he adds. “Exporting success requires a lot of innovation and we really wouldn’t have been able to do that without Enterprise Ireland assistance. It allowed us to commit the time, people and finances to research projects, which enabled us to do something different and stay relevant in the eyes of our customers.”

Innovation remains central to the company’s growth ambitions. The latest additions to the Broderick’s range are BC bars, a range of natural, healthy, protein bars. “A lot of research went into developing these bars, and that knowledge is now available to the food service side of the business as well.”

The Tallaght facility also has a dedicated gluten-free unit. This will play an important part in the company’s future growth plans. “We want to be more than just a brand, we want to be bring people an authentic experience through great-tasting innovative products.”

Learn more on how Enterprise Ireland focuses on innovation with its wide range of supports.

BFree Foods Pioneers Gluten Free Innovation to Drive Export Growth

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“We started with two products and we now have 15. We are constantly working on our products to improve them. We are also working on ways to extend the shelf life of our products without sacrificing flavour – this is very important in markets such as Scandinavia.”
Alex Murphy, BFree Foods

Key Takeouts:

  • Enterprise Ireland’s food innovation supports helped BFree research an alternative to gluten in bread.
  • Research revealed a growing lifestyle market for gluten- and wheat-free bread products.
  • Their gluten-free wraps won several awards, and have a 10% share of the Australian wrap market.

Case Study: BFree Foods

Established in 2011 by Cuisine de France founder Ronan McNamee, BFree Foods has grown to take a significant slice of the domestic market in the “free-from” bread category, and has increased export sales rapidly in the US, the UK, Scandinavia and Australia.

The business has been built around research and innovation from the very start with the aim to be the best. “UCC has an incubator for the brewing and baking industries. We worked with PhD students there on our first product, a loaf of bread. The problem is that gluten does so much for bread – it is the scaffolding that gives it structure, taste and the crisp golden crust. Without it, the bread just falls apart and doesn’t taste very good. We had to solve that, and deliver something that gave us the edge versus the competition. We did a lot of market research at the same time.”

That research revealed a growing lifestyle market for gluten- and wheat-free bread products. “When we launched our first products it was very much with a healthy lifestyle message”, Murphy adds. “We assured consumers that we’ve done the research for them and have created a product that tastes great and is nutritionally good for you.”

Solving the gluten problem proved interesting. “We use various ingredients such as apples, potatoes, peas, sweet potato, even bamboo, to add flavour and replicate the gluten”, she says.

The company launched its first two products on the market in 2012 to a very positive response. “We were producing fresh, tasty and nutritious bread, not long-life products, which can often be full of preservatives.”

Listings in all the major multiples followed and then it was time to look further afield. “We always intended it to be an export product and our next move was into the UK”, Murphy explains. “Innovation is a big selling point there. There are so many people playing in the gluten-free market you have to be able to offer something different. We did some very, very basic consumer research among people with coeliac disease and wheat intolerance, and what they told us was they missed out on family meals; family members ate one thing and they had to eat something else.”

That led the company to develop gluten-free wraps, which tasted just as good and folded as well as the standard product. “Our wraps won several awards for quality and there was no other offer like this in that category and that got recognised among the UK multiples.”

So successful have the company’s wraps been that BFree now commands a 10% share of the total Australian wrap market – both standard and free-from.

Success in the US quickly followed, with Walmart, Costco and KROGER among BFree’s key customers. “We supply 5,500 outlets in the US and it is now our largest market.”

Innovation has been key to the company’s growth and success. “We started with two products and we now have 15”, Murphy points out. “We are constantly working on our products to improve them. We no longer use eggs as an ingredient and this has made our products suitable for vegans. We are also working on ways to extend the shelf life of our products without sacrificing flavour – this is very important in markets such as Scandinavia.”

This activity has been supported by Enterprise Ireland over the years.

“As a start-up, we worked with the universities and then we engaged with the fabulous team in Enterprise Ireland, who helped us with research, development and innovation as well as with expanding internationally. BFree now employs 40 people in Dublin and Enterprise Ireland also helped us establish an innovation hub here in Dublin, where we have four researchers working on new product development and innovation. We are now looking at extending into different categories as well and that will be very exciting.”

 

 

Learn how Enterprise Ireland invest in R&I with its innovation supports.

Movidius

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“These connections are worth far more than any amount of money they can give you.”

David Maloney – CTO & Founder

Who

Movidius are a leading developer of high performance computer vision platforms with applications in drones, VR headsets and robotics.

How

Enterprise Ireland’s connections with universities enabled Movidius to access technologies that they needed, enabling their ability to expand to international markets.

Result

Movidius’s success in international markets led to the company being acquired by Intel in September 2016.

See How We Helped Movidius

How DEM Machines manufactured success in new markets.

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“Our export sales have trebled over the past three years. We are now looking at opportunities in Canada, the US and Australia.”

– John McCann, Operations Manager

Key Takeouts:

  • DEM Machines provide software for real-time factory floor data, in addition to bespoke industrial weighing equipment.
  • After their domestic success, they now look to international markets for growth.
  • Their export sales have trebled with Enterprise Ireland support, and are now looking at entering North America and Australia.

Case Study: DEM Machines

DEM Machines has seen export sales triple and employment grow by 50% over the past three years, since accessing Enterprise Ireland market research supports. The company, which counts leading food companies such as Kerry Group, Kepak, AIBP and Glanbia among its domestic customers, initially focused on the UK for overseas expansion.

DEM Machines is a Kildare-based company that manufactures bespoke industrial weighing equipment and develops industrial software solutions for a range of customers, mainly in the food and meat processing sectors.

“There are two interlinked strands to the business”, explains operations manager John McCann.

“We are a software company. We provide industry-specific software solutions, based on the award-winning SAP Business One platform. We also manufacture and supply the hardware that the software runs on.”

“There is a lot going on in a food processing plant”, McCann notes.

“We offer a fully integrated factory solution that connects back-office financial processes with factory floor processes, such as barcode scanning, label printing, handheld devices, weighing scales and data capture devices. That gives managers access to real-time factory floor data, enabling them to make quicker, better decisions. The idea is to provide food processors with a one-stop shop for all production and financial processing needs.”

A decision to re-energise the business was made three years ago. “We saw an opportunity to develop new products and services for the markets we serve”, McCann says. “We got rid of a lot of older stuff and built new software on the SAP platform. That was when we re-engaged with Enterprise Ireland.”

The company’s domestic success meant that the Irish market now offered limited prospects for growth. “The domestic market will always be a certain size”, McCann continues. “While we count all the major players among our customers here, we know the Irish market inside out. It is growing but at a relatively low rate. We had to look beyond the domestic market if we wanted to grow the business. We had to find additional markets and that’s where the engagement with Enterprise Ireland came in. We had worked with them previously on other developments and wanted to talk to them about overseas growth.”

The company initially looked at the UK and, with Enterprise Ireland assistance, has enjoyed considerable success in the market. “Our export sales have trebled over the past three years. That’s still a small part of the business but all growth is being driven by international markets. We are now looking at opportunities in Canada, the US and Australia. They use the English language and are mature markets with similar food and meat processing sectors and standards to our own. It’s at an early stage for now but that’s where we see future growth coming from.”

Enterprise Ireland market research supports have proven very helpful in assessing the UK market. “Enterprise Ireland were of great assistance”, McCann says. “It’s not just a grant. We used the Market Research Centre in East Point extensively. The team are very skilled at market research and assisted us in identifying excellent quality market intelligence.”

“Getting the grant is straightforward”, he adds. “You submit your plans and do projections. The turnaround time is very quick. We understood what they wanted from us, and they understood what we wanted to do. It was a very good meeting of minds. I would absolutely recommend other companies with export growth ambitions to talk to Enterprise Ireland.”

Tricel

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Commitment to France Pays Off for Tricel

“In France, we are a French company with French people on the ground and a nationwide French distribution network. We have a very responsive business set-up providing next day delivery once a product is assembled.”

— Mike Stack, Managing Director.

Key Takeouts:

  • Developing a range of environmental products was timely.
  • Local factories and French-speaking staff are important.
  • Enterprise Ireland toured France with Tricel in early days.
  • More emphasis on marketing within the business in recent years.

Case Study: Tricel

While attending a trade show in Evreux in France in 2009, Killarney-based manufacturing firm Tricel heard an announcement which would prove to be a watershed moment in terms of its growth in that market.

A representative from the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and the Sea told participants at the trade show that from that point on a government

licence would be required for waste-water treatment systems for one-off houses in France.

Called KMG (Killarney Manufacturing Group) at the time, Tricel went about getting such a licence for its sewage treatment products – which it managed to do in 2011 – and the company’s growth in France took off from there. It secured a significant volume of sales in its first year, and sales have doubled year-on-year over the past four years in France, according to managing director Mike Stack.

Mike’s parents Con and Anne Stack founded Killarney Plastics in 1973 to manufacture high quality composite and fibreglass (GRP) products. At that time GRP was a new and innovative material to the Irish market.

The company went on to develop its own range of products – water storage tanks and meter enclosures – and built up a strong business supplying housing and commercial buildings in Ireland and the UK.

“Things were going nicely until the crash in 2008. Sterling devalued by close to 40% and almost went to parity with the euro in December of that year. This made UK companies more competitive and the market for houses and commercial buildings started to collapse rapidly from then on,” says Stack.

“We had to think about how we could reposition ourselves so as not to be so dependent on the UK. So, we looked to continental Europe and developed a range of environmental products, including the sewage treatment solution which has done so well in France.”

Top Tips for Exporting to France:

  • France requires commitment, particularly in relation to the language.
  • Having a base in France allows for expansion.
  • Building a strong brand in France led to global re-branding.

For more detail, click here

A Strong Brand

Tricel was one of the first companies from a country outside France to get the government licence mentioned above, which has allowed the company to build up a strong brand in the market since 2011.

“What has worked well for us has been the fact that our product is simple, robust and reliable. It is made with composite materials and high quality parts – people like the fact that they don’t need to adjust it or spend money maintaining it. This is also important for distributors who don’t want to have to make call-backs once a product is installed,” notes Stack.

Recognising that the French business was going to be substantial, Tricel established a factory in Poitiers in 2011. The group’s first factory on mainland Europe, the site acts as a commercial hub for France as well as a base from which to expand to other mainland European markets and French-speaking countries. Similar to the approach it took in the UK since the mid 1990s, Tricel manufactures all the parts in Ireland and uses the French factory for assembly.

Now with 25 people based in France, Tricel is in the process of kitting out a second plant in France, in Avignon. It has started recruiting for this new operation in the south-east of the country, which will play a pivotal role as a key assembly, logistics and distribution centre.

“In France, we are a French company with French people on the ground and a nationwide French distribution network. We have a very responsive business set-up providing next day delivery once a product is assembled,” says Stack. “This is important for distributors, which are mainly small businesses in local areas. It means we can get the tanks to them very quickly.”

 

Scope for Growth

“Last year we launched our new Seta waste-water treatment tank in France to meet the demand in the holiday home market. It is suitable for both constant and intermittent effluent use.”

Further to establishing the Tricel brand for sewage systems in France and Germany the decision was made to rebrand the entire group to Tricel in 2014. It is now an established global provider of high performance solutions for the water, environmental, construction and materials industries with 12 operating locations across Europe.

Tricel currently employs 350 people, 134 of which are based at its headquarters in Killarney. “Since 2010 we have doubled our headcount and plan to employ 600 people across the group by 2020,” says Stack.

“Innovation will be the key driver of this growth. Over the past year we have switched from a cross-company approach to innovation to having someone with dedicated responsibility for this in each of the four divisions. A big thing for us has been to get better at measuring innovation and setting targets.”

The key to Tricel’s success in France has been being absolutely committed to the market since it first went there. “We have a managing director in France and the back-up of a lot of French-speaking staff both locally and in Killarney,” says Stack.

“We have taken a committed approach to all new export markets as we believe things don’t go so well generally if you just dip your toe in. In order for both customers and sales people to feel confident about our products, it is important for them to know that we have factories on the ground and people locally they can speak to.”

Tricel’s Partnership with Enterprise Ireland:

  • Enterprise Ireland outlined four pillars to focus on for market diversification
  • Members of the Tricel team took part in training courses to boost international sales
  • Paris office hugely supportive during market research and entry phase in France
  • Strategic marketing review supported by Enterprise Ireland particularly useful

CurrencyFair

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“The foresight and belief that Enterprise Ireland has given us, and the practical advice and mentoring, we wouldn’t have gotten that anywhere else. It was really key to our success.”

Caroline Nangle – Head of People & Culture

Who

CurrencyFair gives ordinary people access to foreign exchange rates normally reserved for banks and market professionals, making it cheaper to transfer money internationally.

How

CurrencyFair was able to scale rapidly and internationally through practical advice and mentoring that they received from the Enterprise Ireland team.

Result

CurrencyFair is now a global operation with over 90 staff and offices in Ireland, Australia and the UK.

See How We Helped CurrencyFair