Air Control Industries

Air Control Industries: a great fan of languages for exports

Air Control Industries Ltd (ACI) was established in 1969 and is based in Chard, Somerset. The company supplies a wide range of high-specification, small to medium-size industrial fan units for virtually all industrial applications ranging from extraction, cooling and ventilation to aeration and surface drying processes. They offer everything from a complete design and manufacturing service, right through to the supply of individual fans and blowers. Their annual turnover is £6 million and there are some forty people employed at the Chard plant.

Amongst their customers in the UK are Jaguar (who use ACI fans for rapid post paint-shop drying) and Vodaphone (who got a retail designer to create a snowscene in a West End mobile-phone store last Christmas using ACI products).

But around 42% of their business is in exports (33% to Europe), and they currently have nominated agents in 17 countries around the world, from Spain to South Africa and Belgium to Brazil. Although a number of these agents are in English-speaking countries, most of them are not and that is why ACI recognises the value of using other languages for their export business.

ACI’s commitment to its role as an exporting company does not stop at written translation. When RLN visited the company at the end of 2005, the Managing Director, Paul Tuffin, explained that he had learned German at evening classes so that he could function more effectively on visits to Germany. The Marketing Director, Matthew Forknall, had also taken on a young Spanish-speaking assistant to do translations (which were checked by the Spanish agent in Valencia), as well as dealing with e-mails and truck drivers who have little knowledge of English.

Paul Tuffin said: “Use of language and culture is critical to our business. Half of ACI’s European sales are to Germany, so our entire website is available in German and it will also be available in French, Spanish and Italian in the near future. The translation of operating and instruction manuals into other languages is essential, with over 20 language versions available for a range of products, including Russian, Chinese, Romanian, Turkish and Croatian. We have also had promotional material translated into French, German and Spanish. If we are serious about expanding our overseas business, we have to able to work in other languages.”

ACI got their German partners, Carl von Gehlen, to do the web translation, but for other languages they have used the services of a professional agency, Multidicta (based in Leeds - www.multidicta.com).

Paul added: “We are very satisfied with the translation agency that we use, but we found it helpful to learn about alternatives from RLN, as well as about other services available.”

Peter Gold, of RLN-SW, was very impressed by the extent to which ACI was engaged in using languages to support and promote its export activities. “There is obviously scope for ACI to do more, but if all exporting companies in the region were as aware of the value of using languages as ACI is, the South-West would certainly not be at the bottom of the export league.”

Visit the Air Control Industries website at www.air-con.co.uk

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