The number of Russian producers wishing to enter markets in other countries has increased dramatically over the past few years. However, any products for sale abroad require international certificates, which can be obtained after testing in laboratories.

At the same time, manufacturers often do not know what documents they need for sending their goods abroad and sometimes they find out about it when the goods are already on the border, told Andrey Kodykov, Marketing and Development Director of "MIIS", the authorized representative office of the international certification body IMQ (notifying authority of Italy) in the framework of the conference "Basic Export: Free Access to Foreign Markets".

Read about how to solve this problem and establish cooperation between companies and laboratories in the article "Made in Russia".

THREE CHANNELS OF COOPERATION.

Kodykov stated that increasing the number of laboratories in the country is a definite advantage for companies, as this way they can optimize logistics costs or reduce the time required for testing.

He said that representatives of laboratories say they are ready to develop, meet the requirements, undergo training, but the question for them is how their services in the future will be in demand.

"Will there be a demand? Eight years ago, there was no such demand as there is now. How does the laboratory itself attract companies and manufacturers. In our opinion, there are three channels. The first is the structure of the REC," says the expert.

In addition, the laboratories themselves need to engage in their own promotion - to use advertising, to participate in conferences and other events.

Also laboratories need to cooperate with other market players - with consulting companies that will connect exporters, laboratories, representatives of the authorities and moderate the process, he added.

"Laboratories themselves need to take part in conferences. We, for example, have held about 300 different online events and attended conferences in the last few years. But labs don't meet very often. If you want to promote yourself or have export companies come to you and conduct tests at your place, you need to use those channels. You need to make laboratories more open," Kodykov explained.

QUESTIONS FROM EXPORTERS

Every exporter has a number of questions when he goes to the lab. And the laboratory staff must know how to work with them, the expert believes.

"I want to give examples of real questions that exporters ask. As a rule, a manufacturer producing a particular product is interested in the following specific questions that the laboratory must answer. The first is, 'I produce, a specific product. What do I need to do?" This is one of the problems - the manufacturer does not know what needs to be tested according to the requirements of other countries and to what standards," shares a representative of the MIIS.

In addition, the company is always interested in the cost of laboratory services. And in this case, the manufacturer wants to know a clear and fixed price that will not increase in the process, he continued.

Also, companies always ask why the services are so expensive and how long the testing procedure will last. "All manufacturers do the testing at the last minute, when the product is already at the border and they have abruptly learned that they need certification. The laboratory must understand this and be able to regulate such a flow," he clarified.

At the same time, exporters ask what will happen if they are not able to pass the tests. Also, company representatives often do not know the specific requirements and ask to do for them by analogy with their competitors.

WHAT ELSE NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED?

Each lab needs to identify its target group and niche in order to build an effective operation, Kodykov said.

"For example, you may conduct the same tests for different product categories. Or you, on the contrary, will be a laboratory that tests everything. There are more than 4,000 different laboratories in Europe - there are very highly specialized, there are very large ones. And they all have work to do," he noted.

In addition to accurately understanding your audience, you should also pay attention to service development, says the expert.

"Help understand the manufacturer with what standards are needed, send to consulting companies, be in good cooperation. Be adequate in shaping the cost of testing. Stick to the agreed upon deadlines. We have a rumor in this country that we don't always meet deadlines. Provide additional service with sample logistics. This can set you apart from the competition. Increase the competence of specialists, for example, in terms of languages. It's not just English that's needed anymore," Kodykov said, adding that laboratories should also be present in the information space and be open to improvements.

"In my opinion, Russia just now has a nascent opportunity to enter the international market and show everyone that our GOSTs are excellent and our laboratories are no worse than those of other countries. We can conquer this niche and conduct tests to confirm the quality of our products and help our exporters," concluded Kodykov.

Made in Russia // Made in Russia

Author: Ksenia Gustova