SPARKS of sheer brilliance

Friday 30th August 2002

The five most exciting players in the telecommunications sector are:

Navman, fast-growing designer, manufacturer, and major exporter, of marine and land-based navigation systems;
Zeacom, first to market with new features for small- to medium-sized contact centres, and growing rapidly internationally;
Temco, a Te Awamutu-based company involved in everything from painting telecommunications transmission towers to advanced geographical information systems (GIS);
Wireless Data Services, extending IT systems out to vehicles in the field; and
Walker Wireless, proving the commercial viability of wireless technology in its chosen niches.

Why they rated

Navman, known as Talon Technology until earlier this year, was recently named manufacturing exporter of the year and supreme exporter of the year in Trade New Zealand's Export Awards.

The company designs and produces marine and land-based navigation products - it is at the forefront of mobile data and fleet management technology, with its handheld and in-car navigation products being used by more than five million people in Japan.

Navman sells a mix of branded and original equipment manufacturer products around the world, with exports having increased tenfold in the past four years.

Current foreign exchange earnings of $30 million are expected to reach $70 million in the next 12 months.

President and co-founder Peter Maire said Navman's strategy was to focus on leveraging technology into multiple markets. It lowered risk by developing innovative uses for existing product concepts, rather than inventing new products itself.

Mr Maire claimed that, thanks to its creative, skilled engineers, it cost Navman 40-50% less than its competitors to design, develop and build marine electronic products.

The company's large R&D budgets focus on turning product ideas into commercial reality, including world-leading GPS systems.

The company identified GPS as a key technology for the future back in 1995 - and was proven correct when its revenues trebled in 1998 after the launch of its first consumer GPS products.

The recent development of Navman's first "chipset"-based receiver has given it a significant competitive edge.

The company's recent acquisition of a US GPS manufacturer will create 50-60 new jobs in outsourced manufacturing in New Zealand - Mr Maire predicted this would help the company hit the $100 million revenue mark next year.

Navman employs more than 200 people, with offices in the UK, US and Australia. It has a conservative attitude to growth, "discarding 10 opportunities for every one it takes."

'As good as your last installation'

Zeacom has combined technical innovation, a customer-
focused team ethic and a savvy approach to international distribution to build its business both in New Zealand and offshore.

The company's contact centre solutions offer smaller contact centres (10-150 seats) much of the sophisticated function previously only available to large centres.

The company proactively seeks new technologies that can be adapted to its market - it was the first to offer integration of web media for smaller contact centres and is now exploring speech recognition.

It was the combination of technological leadership and cultural fit that attracted the attention of Xpanets, one of the largest telephony resellers in the US, when Zeacom decided to expand stateside in 2000.

The partnership agreement with Xpanets meant that, from the start, Zeacom had nationwide coverage in the US, where there was a shortage of call centre solutions at the low end. In December 2000, Zeacom had fewer than 30 US customers - it now has more than 250.

Zeacom's international marketing manager Mike Engle said the company's management team was "very focused" on ensuring the entire staff understood its end goals. There is a strong focus on delivery and providing ultimate customer satisfaction - "you're only as good as your last installation."

"We've focused on a product that offers simple installation. It's out of the box, up and running in a couple of days," Mr Engle said.

Zeacom sells in 15 countries, with about 60% of its revenues derived from sales in the US and just 20% from New Zealand. It has about 40 customer sites in both Asia and the UK and the number of sites installed worldwide has increased 46% in the past 12 months.

"We've stuck very closely to our niche market and our segment - SME call centres," Mr Engle said. "There are lots of options, but we need to focus - too often companies can be flattered by offers from distributors around the world."

Zeacom sees itself as an example to other New Zealand companies who have a strong product offering.

"A lot of companies think they have a good product, then they go offshore and find they have a damned good product - as good as anything in the world," Mr Engle said. "If you can support and satisfy a New Zealand customer, you'll be successful anywhere."

Ultimate bloodsport

Temco started out in 1994 from the rural town of Te Awamutu. It now employs 65 people and takes on the multinationals in its transmission equipment maintenance business by targeting niches that meet the needs of its customers in the electricity and telecommunications sectors.

In the past five years, its GIS division has collected data on 700,000 power poles - giving the company a comprehensive database for planning and pricing maintenance jobs and allowing it to deliver high- quality data to clients at a low price.

Temco embraces tasks where stringent quality and safety requirements deter other companies from getting involved, such as transmission tower painting.

Temco now turned over $7 million and had been achieving 50% revenue growth annually for "a number of years," founder and owner Chris Munn said.

It has deliberately slowed its growth in the past year while the company undergoes ISO 9002 certification.

Mr Munn described his business as "the ultimate blood sport" - competition is tough on every front.

The company employs as many Te Awamutu locals as it can and has brought new people into the area.

Creating the norm

Wireless Data Services, now part-owned by Tait Electronics, is making vehicles part of the IT network, according to managing director Boris Bruges.

Using its systems, companies can track their field force and monitor vehicles, collating better-quality data as it is acquired, eliminating "piles of paper."

The company integrates telemetry, GPS and mobile data and has been the first to offer complete, end-to-end solutions for customers that include United Networks, NZ Police, Tapper Transport, Wellington City Council and Wellington Regional Council.

Wireless Data Services' technological success is the direct result of commitment to research and development. "We have R&D projects we won't necessarily see a return from," Mr Bruges said. "Part of the reason we're successful is we try things that haven't been done before - even though sometimes there's no obvious, rational reason to do them."

In a relatively new field, the company finds itself establishing and creating norms, rather than deviating from them. Mr Bruges said blind faith played an important role.

"If you spend all your time worrying about risk, you won't do things. I reckon there's a hundred Wireless Data Services around the world - if I worried about them, I wouldn't do anything. But in 10 years' time, there might be 10 of us doing really well.

"I'd like to think we've done a lot for mobile data," he said. "Competitors have flattered us by stealing our ideas and we're all growing up together."

He predicted companies would eventually settle into different vertical markets.

No-wire risks

As its name suggests, Walker Wireless has never doubted that wireless technology has a future and that unwavering belief has empowered it to take risks in a new market.

"We're bringing concepts that have been talked about for years into the real world," managing director Bob Smith said.

Operating in a competitive industry, Walker Wireless has had to identify niches and differentiate its strengths, building the market for its products.

The company is now testing fourth-generation wireless broadband for voice and data.

Survey respondents appreciated that Walker Wireless is committed to competitive pricing for high-speed wireless services.

Lessons learned

Technology - Telecommunications industry insiders rated technology excellence as vital in giving all the most exciting companies an edge over their rivals. R&D has been key to Navman's and Wireless Data Services' successes - the former engineers better, faster and cheaper than its rivals, while the latter innovates and integrates leading-edge technologies. Wireless Data Services experiments for the sake of experimentation, often without an obvious payback, and finds itself ahead of the market as a result.
New markets - These companies have all had success in carving out different niches in their markets, rather than taking on the majors head to head. Zeacom's "coals to Newcastle" idea of taking contact centre solutions to the US paid off when it researched the market and found a segment lacking a solution. Temco offers specialised services, outmanoeuvring its more cumbersome multinational competitors. Navman extended its marine navigation systems to land-based systems.
Results - Little comment was made about effects on others. In what is probably a reflection of the tough times in the wider industry, hard business results were the key factor in being rated in telecommunications. Navman's huge export success and rapid growth pushed it to the top rating. Zeacom passed over the more logical move to Australia in favour of a giant leap to the US, and has seen a surge in customer numbers. Temco is rapidly growing a business from Te Awamutu as well as expanding into Australia - it has had to deliberately slow its growth in order to consolidate its gains. Walker Wireless is building both the market and its business.

Ones to watch

Other telecommunications companies short-listed in the survey of New Zealand's most exciting companies were Private Broadcast Services, Econz, Independent Telecommunications, Zicy, Compass (Radionet), New Zealand Business Telephone Co and Citylink.

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