Power-Sprays

Nicola Warman from Power-Sprays made contact with RLN-SW in April 2008 after her colleague, Ian White, had attended an International Trade Forum in December 2007, when RLN-SW participated in Peter Sissons’ Question Time Panel and gave an overview of the free help offered by RLN-SW to South West businesses in order to overcome language and cultural barriers.

Nicola’s preliminary enquiry to RLN-SW was to ask for advice about the possibility of translating parts of the website into some of the less common languages. Nicola, who is involved with the export and marketing side of the business, was delighted with the extent to which RLN-SW could offer advice that covered all areas of overcoming language and cultural barriers, not only translation. “RLN-SW have helped us so much in the short time since our meeting”, said Nicola. The advice given by RLN-SW has included using interpreters, staff language training, using postgraduate student market researchers, cultural briefings and training, and of course, translation.

Established in 1962, Power-Sprays Limited has been involved with the design, development and manufacture of specialist Glassfibre Reinforced Concrete (GRC) production equipment for over 40 years. GRC can be formed into thin sectioned lightweight elements, providing a versatile range of pre-cast products for the building and civil engineering industries.

Power-Sprays’ machinery is currently used by GRC manufacturers in over 100 countries, giving the company a leading edge on exporting their product worldwide. This volume of export activity has prompted Power-Sprays to recognise the importance of overcoming language and cultural barriers when trading overseas, and as such, they have invested time and money by optimising and translating parts of their website in an effort to attract overseas business from speakers of other languages, including French, Russian, Portuguese, Arabic, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and Polish. Various product material has also been translated, and the development of a glossary of terms relating to the products’ technical aspects has commenced.

Susan Roe, RLN-SW said: “The purpose of RLN-SW’s visit to Power Sprays was twofold; firstly to discuss what communication skills were already in place and secondly, to provide additional help and advice on any language and cultural areas that may not have been thought about previously. It was clear that Power Sprays had already made a serious attempt to communicate effectively with their overseas customers and clients by having parts of the website translated into various languages, as well as making a start on the glossary of technical terms. This useful tool can be paramount in providing technical product information in other languages, for use either at business meetings or international trade shows. RLN-SW was also able to provide Power Sprays with further language and cultural advice, and some of those recommendations, including Spanish language tuition and an Export Communications Review, have already been implemented. Given their approach and attitude, Power Sprays really does deserve to succeed in overseas markets.”

For further information about Power Sprays, please go to www.power-sprays.co.uk

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