Making The Language Link
Umicore manufactures optics for CO2 laser systems used predominantly in cutting, welding and engraving. The company, a global supplier of optics and part of the Umicore Group with 15,000 employees worldwide (28 in Stevenage) and dedicated sales and technical staff in both the UK and the USA, operates through 25 offices around the world.
The optics industry is dominated by businesses with an international focus, and competition is severe. The company therefore needs to maintain its international focus and cannot risk limiting itself to the local UK market. As the industry also relies on volume sales, the company needs to seize opportunities globally in order to keep growing.
The 25 overseas offices provide initial support in terms of preliminary contacts with the staff at Stevenage, but due to the specialist nature of the optics market, technical support needs to be given from the UK.
Whichever country we are dealing with, whether it be China or Germany, explains Tom Krekels, Managing Director, there is the language barrier to contend with. For us, therefore, language is part of the service package. If a customer's existing supplier speaks their language, then they expect you to as well. This is especially the case when in direct contact with staff on the shopfloor, who do not always possess English language skills.
The company has employed both a French and a Dutch national, and has also released staff during the day to attend European-funded business language courses through BLIS, the one-stop shop for language and cultural expertise. As Tom points out, if you have a language problem, it translates into your entry into the market. On the other hand, the more aware you are of what the culture of the market demands, the quicker you can enter these markets. You can gain a lot of time by investing in language and culture skills.
The company works on the premise that it is a case of turning opportunities into business, which is reflected in a 2003 government audit conducted by CILT, the National Centre for Languages, into business competitiveness in the region, in which 25% of companies claim to have lost business through inadequate language and culture skills. The most common cause of such lost business was the failure to capitalise on opportunities.
Whilst recently attending a half-day workshop on doing business in China, which included an ice-breaker crash course in Mandarin Chinese, Tom was able to network with other companies who were starting to trade with China, and discuss the relative opportunities and pitfalls of dealing in the world's largest growth market.
www.laseroptics.umicore.com