Company: Inishowen Engineering Manufacturing Ltd
Markets: Europe, North and South America, Japan and Australia
Date: October 2007
John McFadden and Michael McKinney
Lessons Learnt
" Technology Transfer can be a very quick route to market; Inishowen is confident that they can bring this new product to market within 9 months.
" The TechSearch Service combined with the Productivity Improvement Fund
is a powerful platform to facilitate Irish companies looking to engage in the technology transfer process.
Background
Based in the north west of Donegal, Inishowen Engineering produces and supplies a wide range of goods for the marine industry, including hoppers, conveyors, mussel trestles and oyster trestles. The company also provides a comprehensive range of sub contract Engineering Services.
Given Inishowen's market reach within the marine sector, the management team was open to exploring relevant opportunities to enable them to leverage off their expertise and distribution network.
In the meantime, local electrical contractor McFadden Enterprises developed an underwater lamp over a number of years drawing on his knowledge of heat exchangers and electrical control technology. It is now a patented product that offers the market advantages in terms of ease of use, low maintenance cost and enhanced safety.
However the challenge for John McFaddon was one that faces many inventors - how to bring his invention to market?
Business Opportunity
The underwater equipment market for the salmon farming industry is estimated at €10m per annum with a growth rate of 10% annually.
The new lamp represents an enormous opportunity for Inishowen. The largest market for the lamp will be Norway where 440,000 tonnes of farmed salmon is produced per year. Inishowen will then target markets in Chile, Canada, the UK and Ireland. Penetrating new markets in the face of established suppliers will not be easy, but Inishowen is confident that its engineering and manufacturing teams can bring the product to market within 9 months; freeing up time and resources to focus on the sales and marketing effort.
The license agreement provides exclusive international rights to manufacture and market the lamp for North and South America, Japan, Australia and key European markets. The consideration will be a down-payment over two years and a royalty on sales for 12 years. John McFadden will provide technical support during the early stages of production.
Michael McKinney, Managing Director of Inishowen estimates that "this product has the potential to generate sales of €3m over 3 years with 60% of sales coming from export markets."
Working with Enterprise Ireland
The agreement was assisted by Enterprise Ireland through its TechSearch licensing service and supported under the Productivity Improvement Fund. Jim Cuddy, manager of the TechSearch service said "the licensing route is a very cost effective way to acquire products for manufacture and export. Using the Productivity Improvement Fund provides the financial support to help companies like Inishowen ramp up their export activity."