Provided programming materials to junior high schools approved by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education; built up overseas sales within a year and a half of implementation

 

STANDAGE Co., Ltd. (Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Akinori Adachi; hereinafter referred to as Standage), which develops and provides digital trade platforms, has begun providing the trade package service "DigiTrad" to Artec Co., Ltd. (Yao City, Osaka; CEO: Etsu Fujiwara; hereinafter referred to as Artec) in January 2022. With the launch of programming education in Saudi Arabia around 2021, there was a need for related teaching materials locally. We are pleased to announce that we have achieved overseas sales within a year and a half of the service contract by promoting Artec's programming teaching materials and officially introducing them from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education.

 

■ Background of the introduction

Artec was founded in 1960 as a manufacturer specializing in art and craft school teaching materials, and for over 60 years has been dealing in educational products and toys, such as teaching materials for kindergartens and schools, and robot programming materials.

When we exhibited at an overseas exhibition for the first time in 2010, we realized there was demand for our products overseas and started our export business.

In particular, we felt that Africa, which is said to be the youngest continent in modern society, had great potential and was attractive because of its compatibility with our products. However, we felt that it was difficult to find a trustworthy agent in the region, as information was limited compared to developed countries.

 

Since its founding in 2017, Standage has been focusing on Africa, with bases in four countries: Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and Egypt. It employs local staff and is engaged in various initiatives related to trade with Africa.

DigiTrad is a complete trade package service aimed at domestic companies that find it difficult to set up trade on their own, allowing them to outsource everything from market development to payment and logistics to Standage.

In supporting the exports of domestic companies, we have also demonstrated our strengths in building trade and developing sales channels with Africa, leveraging the strong relationships we have built with Africa since our founding.

 

Artec has a solid overseas demand for its products and is looking to expand into the African region. Standage has bases and relationships in the region and is strong in building trade with Africa, so it believes that by supporting Artec, it can solve the issues it faces and expect to expand its overseas sales. This led to a contract between the two companies.

 

■ Main services provided

Since the products are purchased domestically, manufacturers can export them with the same procedures and labor hours as for shipping domestically. Standage will handle all subsequent market development, contract-related work, and preparation of export-related documents.

At the same time, Standage will understand the manufacturer's products and conduct a survey of the local market and demand. Based on the results, Standage will carry out promotional activities such as exhibiting at exhibitions where local buyers gather, and will handle everything from inquiries to price negotiations, contracts, payments, and transportation arrangements including samples.

 

In Saudi Arabia, programming education will be introduced in secondary education from 2021 as part of the national strategy, Vision 2030.

During this period, Standage acted as Artec's agent for participating in local exhibitions. Native local language staff negotiated with buyers, and through the buyers, it was decided that the products would be provided to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education.

All educational materials, translated into Arabic, were provided to middle schools across Saudi Arabia, and DigiTrad built up overseas sales within a year and a half of adopting the technology.

 

In addition to Saudi Arabia, Standage is steadily building up sales of Artec products in African countries, where the company has strengths, including Nigeria and South Africa.

The company will also be exhibiting at the GESS Dubai Education Exhibition and Conference, an education exhibition to be held in Dubai from the end of October 2011, which is expected to further increase its overseas sales.

■Comment from Esterly Luke, Sales, Artec

The first challenge that Artec, a company that deals in educational toys, faced when expanding overseas was to understand the different educational markets in each country and develop educational toys that suit each country, as well as to find suppliers who could provide educational toys locally so that more children can learn in a fun way.

Currently, Artec mainly exports robot programming teaching materials to countries around the world.

We feel that there is great potential for the development of the education market, especially in Africa and the Middle East, and believe that in the future more children will have more opportunities to come into contact with programming education. Therefore, we have placed emphasis on finding business partners in Africa and the Middle East.

At that time, by introducing Standage's "DigiTrad" service, it became possible to utilize local staff for trade support and to find business partners.

I was also attracted by the fact that Standage is able to purchase products within Japan and handle various trade-related matters.

Standage's "Digitrad" has made it possible for us to sell our products in the Middle East and the African continent.

 

■ DigiTrad is introduced by a total of 100 companies in Japan

"DigiTrad" is a comprehensive trade package service developed exclusively by Standage that provides a one-stop service covering everything from sales channel development to negotiations, contracts, settlements, and administrative procedures related to logistics and customs clearance.

 

Due to the rapid depreciation of the yen in the second half of 2010 and the government's efforts to expand exports, Japan's overall export volume has been on a gradual upward trend. However, when looking at the export volume of small and medium-sized enterprises in urban and rural areas, the gap is still widening.

Digitrad was created as a package service to handle all aspects of trade, from market development to contracts, negotiations, payments, and logistics, to enable Japanese manufacturers, who face these challenges, to expand overseas more freely and easily.

 

Rather than being limited to systemizing some operations or providing consulting, this is a service that can "handle" the entire flow of trade. As of August 2011, the number of companies that have adopted this service has reached a total of 100.