Pelican Products Doubles Distributors with Japan Office

March 2006 -- Pelican Products manufactures injection-molded plastic cases and ATEX-certified flashlights from its base in Torrance, CA and sells them all over the world.  Ranging in size from as small as cell phones to as large as steamer trunks, the cases are specially designed for transporting sensitive electronics and other high-value equipment that require airtight, watertight, dust-proof and impact-resistant protection.  Their flashlights, like other electrical equipment used in hazardous locations, are safety-approved to resist setting off a spark that could cause an explosion in gas-filled environments like mines, refineries, and chemical sites.

Opportunities in Japan
Pelican's export sales are approaching 30% of their total business while exports to Japan make up 4%.  Pelican sees significant potential for growth in Japan due to the presence of hazardous locations and the safety requirements for equipment used in such environments.  "We felt from a commercial standpoint that Japan was the next best opportunity for us in terms of putting resources and growing our sales as a company overall," said John Padian, chief operations officer for Pelican Products.

Market Entry
Once Pelican decided to open an office in Japan, they worked with JETRO advisors during the set up process.  Chris Marino, who was international sales manager for Asia-Pacific and Latin America for Pelican Products at the time of office set up, recalls, "After much initial research, I had the good fortune of meeting a representative from JETRO who was helpful in giving us feedback on our initial assumptions and ideas.  We were then introduced to a JETRO specialist in Tokyo who provided us detailed information about office leasing, taxes, employment laws, etc."

  "Further to that," said Padian, "JETRO introduced us to people who took us around for about a week to visit probably 30 or 40 different potential sites for where we would set up our first office, which eventually we set up in Chiba prefecture. "

Results and Outlook
Since establishing their Japan office in October 2004, Pelican Products Japan has set up a Japanese website and already doubled their number of distributors.  Looking forward, Pelican hopes to continue growing both their business and sales force in Japan to the point where a distribution center is necessary to handle the increased business. 

When asked what advice he would give companies looking to open a Japan office Marino replied, "Setting up a successful business in any country is challenging, but I think that Japan poses a unique environment for foreign companies looking to do business there. Japan welcomes companies to establish business there and wants to see them succeed.  JETRO was very helpful to us in pursuing that endeavor."