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FORUM EXPORT FINANCE
Unlocking international opportunities for your manufacturing business Yuri Schneider shares three tips to help ensure your manufacturing business is set up to secure the finance it needs to succeed in export markets. At Export Finance Australia, our team is committed to supporting Australian businesses to succeed in global markets. Whether you need additional working capital to send bulk stock to your export markets or are looking to increase the supply of your inputs, we can help your business to reach new international horizons. Here are our three top tips to prepare your business for when you need finance.
1. Engage early If you know when you’re likely to need additional finance, liaise with your financier to start the process early. Communicating early with your lender is key to ensuring you can access the finance you need. This might simply be a conversation to discuss the contracts you have coming up or what challenges you are navigating – it can all help establish the foundation for a streamlined process. Your business is likely to need different financial instruments throughout its export journey. Having these conversations can also facilitate a collaborative approach to building the right products for you. As an example, if you’ve got confirmed contracts, purchase orders or off take, we could provide finance for stock build up. Reaching out last minute places additional stress on your business and can sometimes mean your finance is not available as early as you might need it. Case study: tna solutions Our customer, tna solutions (tna) is a food processing and packaging technology solutions provider with a presence in more than 120 countries. To launch a new, complete manufacturing line including processing, distribution and packaging systems, producing french fries, wedges and hash browns, tna required additional working capital, Erwin Mulders, CFO of tna explained. “In the past we’ve used our own funds for big projects like this and that has its limitations. By working with Export Finance Australia, we could use our own operational working capital for existing needs.” Saxon Robinson, tna’s Chief Marketing Officer, added that tna is an ideal match for Export Finance Australia. “It’s quite rare that you come across a business that started in Australia and has taken on the world – and succeeded. We're proud of our accomplishments. There's a nice synergy between our profile and the services that Export Finance Australia offers.” For Erwin and his colleagues, they see this as the starting point of a longer-term relationship between tna and Export Finance Australia.
2. Be financially organised Knowing what support you need and ensuring you have all of your financial information up to date puts your business in a strong position to secure funding when it’s most needed. Take the time to do your cash flow forecasting and make sure you know your real financial position. Without this information, your application could be delayed. Supply chain challenges continue to stretch waiting times for supplies and shipping times for deliveries. Having had those early conversations with your lender, being able to take the next step and begin an application as soon as the need arises will place you in a strong position.
AMT JUN 2022
Case study: Atomos Our customer, Atomos, is a global video technology company delivering award-winning, simple to use monitor-recorder content creation products. With most of Atomos’ video monitor components manufactured overseas, there’s a 16-week lead time between paying manufacturers and making sales. Atomos Chief Financial Officer, James Cody said, “We needed a loan facility so we could borrow against customer orders – to help fund our working capital.” Our facility allowed Atomos to keep up with its products’ supply and demand. With our support, Atomos could speed up the manufacturing process and grow its business even further. After becoming a public entity trading on the ASX, James says the business’ innovative success is due to the product itself as well as the relationships it nurtured. “We wouldn't be able to make our products without the likes of Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Adobe, Apple, and Avid sharing their software processing and video capabilities with us,” he said. James is grateful for not only the support of technology partners, but also for the Export Finance Australia team and the support we provided. “In our earlier stages of growth, if we hadn't had the facility – we wouldn’t have been able to produce as much stock as we wanted to.”
3. Understand your export markets Knowing the ins and outs of your target markets can be challenging, but is crucial to the success of your export operations. A deep understanding of any cultural differences and how you are going to manage logistics, among many other factors, is important to be able to demonstrate when you are looking to secure finance for an export-related contract. Quite often, and particularly with travel still restricted, having people on the ground to provide you with insights and a deeper understanding of your markets can be invaluable. Strong relationships and a direct route to sell into your export market, makes securing finance for international contracts a much smoother process. Connecting with government agencies such as Austrade will facilitate introductions to contacts in your export markets. Speak to our finance experts. We’re working with Australian manufacturers to take their innovations global. Call our experienced team on 1800 093 724 or visit our website. Yuri Schneider is the Associate Director, Business Development, VIC & TAS at Export Finance Australia. www.exportfinance.gov.au
