There is reason to smile at Director Carsten Larsen from West-Marine in Esbjerg, because there is plenty to do. So much so that a regular Christmas tradition in most Danish companies has been postponed.
- We have postponed our Christmas lunch due to work, because we are sending five people to Mexico on December 11. Everyone is out working on the dock in Esbjerg and on Ærø, says Carsten Larsen, who does not want to cheat his 26 employees out of the Christmas lunch.
- We are aiming to hold the Christmas lunch in February, he says.
In addition to ships, West-Marine's ship fitters also work on gas and power plants.
- Ship fitters can do a lot of things. It's actually everything with rotating mechanical parts and hydraulic equipment. They can do that, says Carsten Larsen and adds:
- The people are looking forward to getting over there. It's an experience, but it's also hard work with 12-hour shifts a day.
West-Marine specializes in so-called thrusters, which sit on the side of the ships and provide propulsion. There is also a task with thrusters awaiting the ship fitters in Mexico.
- It is a ship that is due for its ten-year overhaul of its thrusters, he says.
New customers with digital tools
It is not without reason that the company has been able to attract new customers.
- We are trying our hand at digital marketing via LinkedIn, says Carsten Larsen.
The director sees marketing as one of the reasons why the new overseas task has been taken on.
- Since we started SEO optimization, we have been receiving inquiries from companies that we did not know existed, he says.
But in addition to the new digital way of getting new customers, Carsten Larsen has no doubt at all about what works.
- We are committed to building good long-term relationships with our customers, and it works, he says he.
The classic that keeps selling
West-Marine also sells its own Safe Transfer Basket, which is used to hoist offshore workers from ships to platforms, mostly in the oil and gas industry. It's a sale that continues to do well. It is a true handmade safety classic that has been made since 1985.
In production, a Safe Transfer Basket is for service.
- This one is between 20 and 30 years old, and then it comes for service, says Carsten Larsen about a Safe Transfer Basket that still has many years of life left in it.
In fact, Safe Transfer is so popular that it is being illegally copied abroad.
- We are experiencing that copies are being made in China and India, and they are using our pictures to sell them. But quality and safety matter, so they don't even reach our standard, explains Carsten Larsen.
Even though copycat companies sell at half the price, the director takes it easy.
- Serious customers can tell the difference, and our total cost of ownership is still lower, he says.
And the customers are even found in countries where copies abound.
- We just sent a Safe Transfer Basket to China yesterday, and there is also one on its way to Egypt and Portugal before Christmas, he says.
The Safe Transfer Basket that is on its way to China will be used on a newly built LNG ship.
How Denmark can compete
Carsten Larsen actually sees that this is Denmark's opportunity to compete precisely on quality. But it doesn't have to be just any quality.
- The steel comes to Denmark from the East, and then we refine it into Safe Transfer Basket, which we sell back to China. We can compete in Denmark when we are on the top quality shelf. And it is possible for a small company, says the director.
And it is not only in the steel that he sees this trend.
- We import material for gaskets from Italy, then we custom-make gaskets and sell them back to Italy, explains Carsten Larsen, who believes and focuses on top-shelf quality.
Updated version.
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