Manor Tool and Manufacturing/ Vogel Tool attends the International Business Fair in Bogota Columbia

As part of the International Manufacturing Community, Manor Tool and Manufacturing/Vogel Tool in partnership with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Office, attended the International Business Fair in Bogota, Columbia this October.

Among the participating companies that traveled with the Illinois Trade Delegation were:

Vogel Tool

Addison, IL.

Anamet Electrical

Mattoon, IL.

Ask Power

Aurora, IL.

EMAC

Carbondale, IL.

Flextron Circuit

Elk Grove Village, IL.

Matot Inc.

Bellwood, IL.

SUMAC

Chicago, IL

Unytite, Inc.

Peru, IL

MTH Pumps

Plano, IL

Ecolit, US

Chicago, IL

Manor Tool & Manufacturing

Chicago, IL

The 5 day Trade Fair had a various number of benefits for each participant.

  • Learning the Culture
  • Lead Generation
  • Legal and Financial Vetting (Business Law)
  • Foreign Business Structure
  • Manufacturing Facility Tours 
  • Decision Maker Process
  • Dealers & Distribution Contacts
  • Quality Standards

A highlight of the experience to Bogota’ was the fact that this mission allowed us to share a unique experience of travelling to a new location, learning about, and becoming familiar with both the culture and a different way of doing business, while measuring our future efforts and successes in a different market.

When asked about the opportunity and the experience to represent Illinois Trade Mission, Manor Tool and Vogel Tool President Tom Simeone stated:

This experience allowed all of the Illinois delegates to go beyond making a mere “sales pitch” to our partners in Columbia.   It allowed us to take the necessary time to examine and to see how our products would affect the realities of us doing business in Bogotá.  We found that with meeting with the business decision makers and asking direct questions, that critical advances were made in what would help all of our fine companies succeed in the region, along with which partners in Columbia would benefit from our specialty products”.

manorblog bogota Pictured from left to right:

Atsushi “Attsie” Hashimoto– Unytite Fastening

Ana Maria Vega Velez– Translator/Interpreter

Michael Wynn– Vogel Tool

Raymundo Flores– Illinois Department of Commerce

Yuji “OJ” Ozeki– Unytite Fastening

Success of this 5-Day event was due in part to the hospitality that was shown by our hosts in Bogota, which enabled our delegation to broaden our understanding of business communication in Columbia.

The translators supplied by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Office, helped us gain a much richer and truer understanding of the culture and our Colombian contacts.  Conversation in a foreign language can be amazingly subtle, nuanced, and complex. This trip illustrated that translation is of the utmost importance when doing business, ensuring that both sides have a clear understanding of what is critical to the business process.

Ultimately, Manor Tool/Vogel Tool’s participation in the Illinois Trade Mission to Bogotá, Colombia helped all the representatives that also attended to revisit our approach to a new region.   We are now developing products for a part of the world completely new to our business.  This has now also given us the opportunity to refine and improve products that will benefit customers around the world, bringing them the highest quality products, with unsurpassed service from Illinois, USA.

For more information on this event you may contact the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Office at 312-353-8040



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