ag体育官网的专家, 马克斯Avall和我们芝加哥中心办公室的詹姆斯•阿姆斯特朗, answer the big questions about the importance of a local site in the 美洲 and the solutions for getting the site selection spot on.
马克斯Avall
对于ag体育官网公司来说，美洲一直是一个强大的扩张市场, but why is it beneficial to have a local establishment and has this need changed over the past few years?
整个美洲, and even down to regional and state level offers access to a huge customer base and the US economy alone is over 36 times larger than ag体育官网’s. A local presence gives direct access to that vast customer base and is a key reason and driver for local presence. 这也表明了对客户、供应商和市场的承诺. Proximity means your production, innovation, network and research is part of the local ecosystem.
Sales in the 美洲 account for about 24 percent of Swedish companies’ global sales and a local presence in the market is a becoming increasingly important for gaining market share.
当前的贸易协定重新谈判正在进行中.g. USCMA给ag体育官网企业带来了不确定性和紧迫感, prompting a shift towards setting up local production facilities or assembly plants to avoid the tariffs and import duties and meet certain criteria set out by legislation in American and other countries in the region.
决定在美洲建立本地生产基地是一大步, what is the primary challenge facing Swedish companies once that strategic business decision has been made?
最大的问题是，在哪里? 美洲是一个巨大的地区，正在努力了解和评估其好处, challenges and opportunities between countries and states and regions can be hard if you don’t have local knowledge, 人脉与经验. 当地的流程和商业文化不仅与ag体育官网的做事方式不同, 但在整个美洲. 这往往是ag体育官网公司需要克服的一大挑战.
其次，还有一些硬性因素需要了解. 当地法规, 法律结构, 各国和各地区的税收和本地化激励措施差别很大. 如果你以前从未在这个地区出现过, 这很难知道, 例如, what the initial licences you need or what state or region would be better for your business over another. 直觉是一回事，但很难与数据驱动的分析相匹配. 如果你在地理位置上远离市场，就很难进行这种分析. 第三，还有一些实际的挑战. 物理距离和时区差异使定性分析变得困难, but also not having an established network or understanding of the key stakeholders to talk to is a barrier to getting a real understanding of local variance. We have local offices throughout the region and our teams work closely together to support companies with a thorough analysis with boots on the ground.
詹姆斯•阿姆斯特朗
当今世界并不缺乏数据, 但是它如何帮助定义网站搜索呢, 数据搜索将提供什么样的信息?
数据丰富, 但是你需要确保数据是干净的, 所以你知道你是在比较不同国家或地区的苹果. 我们不会做的只是比较美国和墨西哥之间的土地成本, 我们将评估这对公司的底线意味着什么.
But it’s important that we first work with companies to find out what their key drivers for profitability locally are. 我们通过研究来了解这些是否是劳动力成本, 能源成本, 原材料或物流成本. This means the data that we gather is tied to important factors for the company’s business case. We would generally limit this to about 10 data points with some information easier to gather and others more labour intensive with local interviews and stakeholder engagement.
但数据是一个非常强大的工具，可以快速做出选择. 在数据分析过程的早期, we can narrow the search down to two or three states that will best meet specific needs for your business type. 然后我们结合主观因素和定性因素.
还有哪些因素经常被ag体育官网公司忽视呢, 要么在选择过程中, 或者在新选择的站点中设置生产的下一步?
当ag体育官网公司搬迁到美洲, 一个地方的文化契合度不一定在他们的考虑范围之内. 但这很重要. Companies know their business and management culture, and it’s important that a site reflects that. 该地区和当地劳动力的价值观与你的一致吗, 这是一种良好的文化契合吗? Getting this right is important and can only be done with frequent trips to the 美洲 during the site selection process. 一个地点在纸上看起来很棒, 但当你到访, 你马上就会因为文化契合度而贬低它. 与当地行业领袖会面, understanding what people will think of you as an employer or supply partner are all very important factors. We help Swedish companies get the cultural fit right by travelling with them to locations to get into the heart of the place.
此外，当地的激励机会相当复杂. 一些ag体育官网公司会认为他们最初规模很小, 比如说20个员工, but there may be a range of incentives that a region can offer that will help in the short- or long-term. 这些可能与所提供的工作类型有关, 通常这类工作都很抢手，并受到当地政府的优先考虑. So underestimating incentives can be common mistake that Swedish companies make as it is quite different from the 欧洲an model.
