Opening German Daughter Company

 

Client Japanese manufacturer of production equipment for the automotive industry
Situation Client dispose of a long term business as supplier to Japanese OEM and tier-1 manufacturers and their foreign entities. Several production facilities exist in Japan, P.R. China and South East Asian countries.
Clients intends to expand business to German automotive companies disposing of numerous foreign production plants. These target clients are well identified.
Position of Rainer Kozik
  • Consultant for business evaluation
  • HR consultant for qualified technical staff
Analysis
  • Target clients have long term relation with local suppliers
  • Target clients will accept Japanese manufacturer only if he is able to render same quality of services and remarkable benefit for first order
  • Target clients will insist on same work routine in project management as applied with existent suppliers
  • Target client will not accept any commercial risk while placing order to new Japanese supplier
Strategy
  • Japanese manufacturer needs to be considered as a supplier from within the culture of target client being represented by his German legal entity
  • Buyer and seller must dispose of identical understanding in the communication between their project managers
  • Japanese manufacturer needs to widely accept the commercial conditions of German target clients
  • Any deviation in terms and conditions to previous contract of Japanese with existent clients need to be backed-up by suitable instruments or, if impossible, being especially considered and monitored by Japanese manufacturer.
Execution
  • Client and Rainer Kozik have assessed the provinces in North Western and Southern Germany as the most prospective ones.
  • Client has opened a 100% foreign daughter company in the form of a GmbH = company with a limited liability. The selected place of business is located in the region of key clients in North Western Germany.
  • Client has engaged a chief sales engineer acting as managing director from the place of business.
  • Client has further engaged a sales engineer acting from his home office in Southern Germany.
  • Client has acquired a small German company offering same production process for reference and back-up purposes.
  • Client has closed specific insurance contracts to cover specific risks out of contracts with German clients.
  • The performances for accounting, HR services and tax declarations have been initially outsourced to professional service providers selected after comparison on the market.
  • The aforementioned process took 12 months from start until successful execution.
Success
  • The sales engineers of client are able to reach 85% of German target clients within short travel time.
  • The entity in Germany was functioning properly from the very beginning.
  • Few months later the entity in Germany received orders from target clients for the replacement of equipment in their existent plant and supply of new equipment for green field projects abroad.
Further information I gladly provide on request in a personal meeting.