São Paulo – A Brazilian machine manufacturer found in the online world a way to tread the path of international sales. Born as a family business to meet a domestic need, Naliteck Mecânica e Automação Industrial, based in Olímpia, São Paulo, is now an exporter and caters to seven countries, including two Arab nations, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt (pictured above, a visit to the country).
Exports started seven years ago, by uploading videos on YouTube. The story of Naliteck, though, had started long before, in the year of 2010, when the company was founded by Antônio Roberto Nalini. Years later, when his two sons, Flávio and Vitor, got degrees in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, respectively, they become directors of the Electrical and Production departments.
The idea to create Nalitech came after Antônio, the company’s commercial director, worked at a wood packaging plant, which conditioned wires and cables – known as reel flange. “Back then, as there wasn’t an equipment to machine and manufacture the reel, I did that. I developed an equipment for each role inside the factory, then one day, for logistics reason, we saw that the reeling business wasn’t viable.
After they announced the sale of the machinery to move on to another industry, one of their clients volunteered to buy it. After the installation, this client convinced me to make another machine. And the equipment was enhanced over time, and then they were sold to major national factories.
Some of the leading products sold in Brazil are wood reel flange machining centers and wood cutting optimizers for several purposes. Overseas, the wood reel machining centers are the best-selling products.
Digital path to exports
Now catering to seven countries — Romania, Paraguay, the United States, Turkey, Egypt, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates – exports started online seven years after the company’s foundation, Antônio, 59, born in Olímpia, started posting short videos of the products on YouTube, and then he was contacted by his first international client, from Romania.
“Mr. Giovanni wanted to come here to Brazil to see the wood reel flange machine in operation. With the permission of some national clients, I took him. Giovanni liked it and bought the machine,” Nalitech’s founder recounts on the Romanian buyer.
But like every thing that is done for the first time, this sale presented some difficulties at first. However, after the installation and sale were complete, they learned how to deal outside the country, and Antônio boosted the promotion of the equipment to other potential buyers.
Business with the Arabs
Then they won landed three clients in the US, made sales to Paraguay, Turkey, Egypt, and most recently, with the help of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), they closed a deal with a client from the UAE.
Just like in their first international business, the firm faced some difficulties when they sold to a client in Egypt. Antônio, who was contacted by the buyer on Facebook in July 2020, says the problem was with the banks involved in the deal, one from Brazil and one from Egypt.
As the two institutions hadn’t interacted before, the Naliteck’s founder tried a number of ways to close the deal, while struggling with the client’s distrust. The Egyptians was afraid to send the money up front because they though they wouldn’t receive the shipment.
“As the value was low at the time, I ventured on my own and closed the deal. When we shipped the machine from the Port of Santos and sent the documents, they paid it immediately. In the second negotiation with another Arab country, we faced some resistance from the Brazilian bank at the moment to exchange the keys. And we didn’t know why,” he said.
“When I was about to give up from the deal, I searched on Google and found the ABCC. I told Alberto Salgueiro (the institution’s Acquisition and Relationship Coordinator), and he said he’d try to intervene, even though I wasn’t a member. He contacted the ABCC’s office in Dubai, gave them my company details showing that Nalitech was a legal business. This showed our credibility to the client, who then paid 50% up front. After that, the machine was delivered and we became an ABCC member.”
The Brazilian company is still negotiating a big sale to another client in Egypt. But since the plant is based in Algeria, the negotiation is being carried out with a local financial institution that hasn’t closed any deal with the Brazilian bank yet.
Furthermore, Nalitech has received budged requests and trade offers to sell wood reel machining centers to various clients in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Ukraine, and India.
Overseas expansion
In Europe, where the company has made deals with Spain and Romania, you can find equipment that is similar to those Nalitech sells. But the Brazilian company manages to stand out from others, Antônios says, because of its lower prices and better equipment.
“Our equipment is much more practical and meets their production targets. The US, for instance, makes good, reliable machinery, but not with the same agility as ours. We also make a product that saves more energy, and we Brazilians, due to our flexibility at the moment of negotiation, end up becoming friends of the client.”
Sought by Mexico’s o José Alfredo Torres, a cable and wire industry consultant in Brazil, Antônio accepted having a representative from the company outside the country, and since them deals between the two countries have been in talks.
Since its first machine, sold in 2010, Nalitech deals with many domestic clients, too. Its active customer base includes some 30 clients spread out across various states of Brazil like Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Goiás, and Pernambuco. Its plant has 16 employees.
Contact info:
Naliteck Mecânica e Automação Industrial
Website: https://www.naliteck.com.br/
Phone number: +55 (17) 3042 1507
WhatsApp: +55 (17) 982000342
Email: vendas@naliteck.com.br – comercial@naliteck.com.br
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
