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Success StoryCast a Wide Net to CatchNew OpportunitiesSpancrete Machinery CorporationThe CompanySpancrete Global Services Incorporated, a divisionof the Spancrete Group, employs 45 people inits Waukesha, Wisconsin, production facility. Thecompany, founded by Henry Nagy, manufacturedthe first precast hollow-core slabs in NorthAmerica in 1952. Spancrete sells its equipmentworldwide under license agreements and directsales. In the last 5 years they’ve entered India, theMiddle East, Kazakhstan, and, more recently, theRussian Far East.The ChallengeSpancrete entered China in the late 1980s. Thecompany wanted licensing agreements, but theChinese government forbade such arrangements.So the company opted to sell the machineryoutright. At first, customers were state-ownedenterprises, and the Chinese governmentencouraged them to expand into the precastconstruction business, despite their limitedknowledge of that sector. Those companiesstarted by producing floor slabs, Spancrete’s mostbasic product, but local architects and engineershad limited experience with precast products ofthis type. Even in a state-controlled economicsystem, companies need effective marketing togenerate sales.The SolutionTo better support the companies, Spancrete beganassisting with seminars for these state-ownedenterprises and the construction communityin general.According to Terry Deitrich, the internationalmarketing director, the next achievement wasto establish the China Spancrete Association,probably the first organization of its kind. Theassociation is a nonprofit support organization forSpancrete’s Chinese customers, assisting them intechnical, production, and marketing procedures.“At first, the Chinese didn’t understand theconcept of a professional association,” Deitrichsaid. “They said, ‘Why should we pay dues tobelong to something like this? Why should wecooperate with people outside of ourown enterprise?’”Working through the association, Spancretepooled the existing knowledge for the benefit of88U.S. Commercial Service • A Basic Guide to Exporting