Yoke Har Lee: Undersea expertise wins overseas sales

Neil Anderson says winning contracts in Europe and Asia involved a lot of hard work by ENL's staff. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Ten years ago, Electronic Navigation Ltd (ENL) set out to develop new technological capability, in an exercise aimed at business renewal and growth.

The exercise paid off: ENL has since carved out a significant global presence with its sonar technology, used to gather information under the sea.

Built from scratch with the help of funding from the Technology for Business Growth scheme, under the ambit of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, ENL's technology has raised the performance bar for competitors.

Managing director Neil Anderson says the company saw an opportunity: "We looked at what our suppliers had, and what they were not doing. We looked at the technology required to fill that gap and thought, we can set about developing the technology."

Electronic Navigation went looking for a technology partner and found it in the University of New Hampshire, noted for its research on sonar technology.

The company soon acquired the technology needed to build its own niche product, the WASSP multibeam sonar system, which enables users to quickly build an accurate profile of the marine environment - showing information such as the shape of the seabed, reefs, wrecks, schools of fish, and even the hardness of the seabed. This information can be displayed, and stored for future use.

The product is a particularly big hit with cray fishermen.

Electronic Navigation scored a big win recently in China, where for the first time WASSP technology was used on a dredging vessel to deliver real-time information, rather than waiting for the information to be returned to shore, as in the past.

"Our technology is being used to track the sea floor in dirty silt laden water for dredging operations on the Yangtze River delta," says Anderson. "So not only is this our first sale into China, it is also the first time the product has been successfully used for dredging purposes.

"This is the first of more than 15 orders into China this year and follows a number of trips by our staff providing technology presentations and trial programmes to major Chinese corporations."

Electronic Navigation has also clinched a big contract with a European firm, one of the world's largest underwater acoustic companies, that will add about $2 million to next year's sales. It will be supplying its technology to the client, which asked for confidentiality, for the next 10 years.

Anderson says the European and Chinese contracts involved a lot of hard work by ENL staff. In January, one ENL staff member was heading for work, expecting a typical day, but by 1pm they were on a plane to Shanghai. "The fact that he was prepared to hop on the plane, just like that - the client was rapt with him, also with his capability," Anderson says.

Besides the WASSP product line, ENL's other core businesses include the distribution of marine equipment; installation and integration of marine electronics for superyacht builders (clients include Alloy Yachts, Fitzroy Yachts, and Yachting Developments); and supplying marine services to the commercial fishing industry.

Electronic Navigation has had to be disciplined with its approach to marketing its products, because it is a David in a world filled with maritime Goliaths. "We're a small company so we try to pick the low-hanging fruit," says Anderson. "There is a lot of cost - of lost opportunities - but we have to stay focused. The strategy has worked."

Another big challenge for the company, based at Auckland's Westhaven, is keeping the talent pipeline stocked. "Staff recruitment, that's been a real battle," says Anderson.

With time and money invested in Europe, he hopes the economic environment there does not turn sour.

There are, however, ample opportunities to pursue, especially in Asia, he says. "We have a pragmatic approach. We can't be everywhere at once but there are lots of opportunities to grow Asia, by focusing on Japan and China."

The outlook for the superyacht building industry is still pretty tough, due to the global economic uncertainty.

In the wider world, however, there is still growth to be pursued for the WASSP product line, as governments seek to manage the use of marine resources. Other growth areas include domestic coastal security, port monitoring, and search and rescue, among other things.

"Five years ago, no one knew us. We used to do eight to 10 trade shows a year. We put a lot of effort into developing our brand," says Anderson. "We had to build a brand from scratch. People now say 'tell us more about your product."'