Delta Group just held its "EMEA Partner Event" from Nov. 11-13, inviting over a hundred distribution partners from Europe, Africa and the Middle-East (EMEA). The EMEA partners visited Delta's headquarters in Taipei and the Taoyuan Technology Center and enjoyed a technical and cultural trip to Taiwan.
Over the past years, Delta's Industrial Automation Business Group (IABG) has started business development in global markets and built branch offices in Europe (Delta Europe, the DEU.) The DEU has focused on business in the EMEA markets since 2004.
To support business expansion in the EMEA regions, Mr. Tim Lee, the IABG's EMEA Business Director, invited over 30 of IABG's distributors to join the EMEA Partner Event and build a stronger partnership.
Tim has high expectations for the future development of the EMEA region. "In 2004, the IABG was determined to develop the EMEA markets with the establishment of DEU," said Tim. "We have survived the global economic tsunami 2008, political instabilities and military conflicts in the Middle-East, and European currency issues, debt crisis and economic sanctions, and the DEU is expecting fast growing business in the EMEA."
Sees Market Trends, Seizes Business Opportunities
Delta has established a complete sales distribution network in the EMEA region with 56 distributors. According to Tim, the number will grow to 71 in 2014. He pointed out that sales revenue dropped due to political instabilities in the Middle-East in 2013. Fortunately, the requirements of emerging markets in the EMEA, such as East Europe and Turkey, grew faster than expected. "We reached our goal in 2013, and will continue our efforts in 2014," said Tim.
Tim focused on the emerging markets, including Russia and Turkey. With a 2-3% GDP growth rate, the markets in Russia and Turkey are seeing stronger growth in industrial automation in recent years.
The IABG keeps expanding market share. In Turkey, Delta's programmable logic controller (PLC) and human machine interface (HMI) take an 11% market share. In Russia, 25% of the packaging machines and tapping machines adopt Delta's industrial automation products, and the IABG will help distribution partners to work on mechanical equipment in the years to come.
Tim said, "With years of experience, hard work and partner support, we are on the right path and seeing positive results in the EMEA region. Still, we see space for progress." Tim has developed sales strategies according to market trends and end user feedback, and he looks forward to seeing sales expansion in the future.
Market Expansion in Different Regions for More Opportunities
Even with the environmental crisis in the EMEA, Tim predicts a 40% growth rate in 2016. Tim has proposed a sales strategy according to market needs and scope and product performance. "We are targeting various industrial applications and key accounts in different regions," said Tim.
In the past, the main task for the DEU was to find good sales partners, build partnerships and help them promote Delta's industrial automation products. The DEU also required market information via its partners.
However, as the technology and sales background of every distributor varies, the market and sales information collected was not complete. In addition, as Delta's product lines have kept on expanding, it has been hard for partners to cover both sales and new product know-how.
To further develop EMEA markets, Delta has started to add target regions, including France, Russia, Germany and Turkey. The DEU team will also grow to 37 people from the current 29 and move to a more spacious office with a training room and laboratories.
Tim said, "The investment of regional human resource in the EMEA is an important step. DEU will provide thorough training programs for regional sales, including application technologies and market know-how, so that regional sales can provide the most up-to-date product and solution information to customers."
The other main mission for regional sales is to require the latest comprehensive market information for sales and product promotion. "They are the direct communication conduits that connect the IABG to the EMEA markets," indicated Tim. "With their support, we will stick closer to regional markets for better sales strategies."
Meanwhile, the DEU is transforming from front-end office into sales and technology centers in the EMEA. In the future, the regional sales will be the front-end, and the DEU will become the EMEA headquarters for Delta's industrial automation. The DEU will provide technological and sales support, as well as product and solution training.
The IABG will also start a new partnership mode with the EMEA distributors. To begin with, the DEU will construct a platform for technical communication and sales service. This platform will help rapid communication between the IABG and the EMEA distributors, greatly enhancing cooperation and communication efficiency. Of course, the IABG will estimate the performance with all the EMEA partners and adjust the corporate pattern.
As for sales strategy, the DEU will focus more on the OEM, system integration and field applications business. Tim said, "Delta's rapid product lines expansion is a hard task for both the DEU and distribution partners. Entering system integration makes it even harder. So we need to adjust our organization and build a strong team to face both internal and external challenges."
Sincerity and Strong Partnership Create a Better Future
"Only the right people do the right things," said Tim. "With the DEU's team and the support of our partners, we see a promising future in the EMEA."
This year, the DEU and the EMEA partners promoted Delta's industrial automation products and solutions and showcased at more than 31 exhibitions. Among the exhibitions, the DEU attended four and sponsored four, and EMEA distributors attended 23, developing many potential customers and business opportunities. Through their efforts, sales revenue in the EMEA regions reached its target in 2013.
To encourage the EMEA partners, Tim invited over 30 partners to visit the IABG's headquarters and R&D center – Delta's Taoyuan Technology Center. They were impressed by the power efficiency and energy-saving results. Tim and the IABG product teams also shared EMEA sales strategy and product development roadmap.
Seeing the advanced energy-saving technology and facilities and successful system integration applications, and learning of the IABG's ambition and expectations in the EMEA regions, the EMEA partners showed great confidence in Delta. Everyone enjoyed their trip to Taiwan.
"In past years, the DEU and the EMEA partners worked together with sincerity," Tim said with a smile. "For better or worse, sincerity, caring, and treating customers from the heart are the only ways to maintain long-term partnerships. We will continue to work together for a better future."