Here’s a checklist of inspiration for aspiring exporters. Our collection of 50 favourite export case studies shows that there is no magic ingredient to making it to the world stage, but it certainly helps to get the basics right.
Ed Roberts on Australian Scientific Instruments
Exporting since: 1995
Key markets: Asia, Europe, North and South America.
Australian Scientific Instruments is a subsidiary of ANU Enterprises—the commercial arm of the Australian National University—and has had great success in manufacturing and exporting scientific instruments to geophysicists around the world, in particular its Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe (or SHRIMP).
Australian Scientific Instruments manager, Ed Roberts, says the SHRIMP technology has become so well known among the world’s geologists that many use the verb ‘SHRIMP’ to refer to ion probe dating of a sample even when using a competitor’s machine. The SHRIMP is supported by software such as PRAWN and SQUID, so not surprisingly the company will often get inquiries about seafood.
With 80 percent of sales coming from overseas, Roberts attributes ASI’s export success to its unique technology and ongoing research, as well as close collaboration with clients, enabling them to maximise the product’s benefits.
