PLP Wins Export Award AEEMA

The Prime Minister Mr. John Howard has presented PLP Australia with the AEEMA (Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association) Excellence in Export 2002 Award. The Award was received at the annual AEEMA gala evening. The presentation was made to Mr. Norman Windell, Managing Director and Mr. Raymond Daly, Regional Manager - Asia for PLP Australia.
Mr Howard congratulated Mr. Windell and his workforce on an excellent achievement in very competitive export markets. PLP Australia designs and manufactures an extensive range of hardware fittings and accessories for the power and communication cable industries.

The comments from the judges for the award for Excellence in Exporting stated "We were particularly impressed by the company's well-articulated, clear and focused strategy for firstly entering new markets, and then for serving them effectively. Preformed Line Product's strategy of very clearly identifying its niche and forming smart alliances in order to convince potential customers to by its superior, but more expensive product, rather then the local offerings, has been validated by its enviable exporting records.

Since deciding to dedicate resources and focus on developing its export markets four years ago PLP has received orders for product's destined for Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Oman, India and Sri Lanka. A crucial achievement in the export drives has been the diversification of the customer base and the subsequent repeat orders from the region.
Stiff competition from local and incumbent manufacturers and suppliers of lower priced and lower quality products made entering the markets a difficult task. PLP determined that to develop the market a long-term strategy was required to educate the customers on the importance of quality, reliability and service. Crucial to PLP's success was a policy of building alliances with strategically placed local companies.

After receiving the award Mr. Windell stated 'in our industry there are still companies who are downgrading their Australian manufacturing facilities and relocating their activities offshore where labour costs are cheaper. The award serves to vindicate PLP's decision not to follow this trend but rather to strengthen our Australian based operation.

Our exports have increased from less than 4% of total sales four years ago to 12.5% of total sales at present. This is of greater significance as we have also increased our underlying business over the same period. 'The success of PLP Australia in developing its international markets shows that Australian companies can compete based on focused long term strategies, planning and quality of product and services'  added Asia Manager Mr. Raymond Daly. This achievement is the second major award achieved by PLP Australia in 2002. In July Aurora Energy Australia awarded PLP as Supplier of the Year for the second year running.