Exporter Spotlight: Poriferous, LLC

A Q&A interview with:

• Aaron Noble, Founder & CEO

County: Coweta
Industry: Healthcare/Life Sciences

Poriferous is a manufacturing facility that makes Su-Por® Surgical Implants. First cleared to market in 1985, Newnan was known for its manufactured porous polyethylene surgical implants until 2012. When the main manufacturer of these products left Georgia, my team and I sought to bring porous polyethylene back home. Our 10-year pursuit, which respects and appreciates the history of porous polyethylene manufacturing in Newnan, thoughtfully expands into a new era of porous polyethylene technology rather than replicating previous processes. Our mission at Poriferous is to recognize, develop, and apply a superior level of uncompromising innovation, process controls, and excellence. We own our manufacturing process. We hold our technology. We own our responsibility to surgeons and their patients. We ensure every process is monitored and controlled such that the technology and material come together precisely. Uncompromising quality directs us. Uncompromising quality commands that each device be worthy of the Su-Por Brand.

How long has your company been exporting, and what motivated you to start selling internationally?
Poriferous has been exporting since 2015. Our global presence allows access to those who may benefit from Su-Por Surgical Implants. Global distribution gives our company the ability to:

• Pursue new sales growth
• Diversify our customer base
• Decrease the risk of financial hardship on the families of our employees
• Develop innovative implants with surgeons around the world, increasing the quality of patient care

What is the biggest lesson your company has learned about exporting?
Successful exporting requires building a robust and dedicated distribution network by:

• Utilizing export services
• Finding distributors that believe your product is the best solution for your customers
• Remaining a positive resource for your distributor
• Providing comprehensive product training and certifying competency by testing and infield demonstration
• Considering splitting up the distribution into families of products that best match the distributor’s focus
• Becoming knowledgeable about your product registration requirements in each country

Your distributors must be trustworthy and demonstrate transparency. It’s important to find the right distributor. We suggest:

• Avoiding the use of distributors that carry a competitive product
• Ensuring your staff and customer service team members are well-treated by any distributor
• Avoiding distributors who accept minimal initial orders and then fail to communicate afterward
• Requiring evidence of marketing efforts by distributors
• A consistent flow of communication between the company and distributors, along with looking for distributors who are consistently asking questions, to ensure proactive measures are being taken on your company’s behalf

How has the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) International Trade team helped your company? Have any other outside resources helped the business achieve success internationally?
We’ve received assistance with vetting and evaluating our international partners through:

• Due diligence on interested parties
• GDEcD’s international representatives in several countries who help identify and work with local partners to determine our company's best fit
• Cost-saving access to international trade shows with GDEcD, such as Medica, Arab Health, and the Korea International Medical Equipment Show (KIMES)
• Connections with the U.S. Commercial Service’s Gold Key services to find multiple distributor options and arrange key meetings

These collaborative services and events provide Poriferous a face-to-face forum to hold current distributors’ meetings while connecting with potential new partners.

What export challenges have you faced during Covid-19, and how have you responded?

With much private practice and elective surgeries being postponed or canceled until further notice, our international distributors have experienced limited ability to perform typical visits with our customer base. As with any challenge, we have taken this opportunity to:

• Engage larger government and facility contracts (tenders)
• Develop new relationships utilizing online virtual meetings
• Establish more robust training methods, marketing materials, and educational literature

Luckily, due to our diversified global presence, our sales have increased over the previous year.

What advice would you give to companies that are just starting to export?

• Identify what it takes to be effective in reaching your target audience. For Poriferous, prospective distributors needed to demonstrate:
  • Proper resources allocated, financial strength, a marketing team, and tender contract professionals on staff
  • Adequate sales representation to service your customers
• Avoid groups that sell everything. This shotgun approach will not provide your customers the attention they deserve
• Control the retail price of your product. Price gouging will forever be associated with your brand in the territory, taking years to undo the damage
• Not all countries’ price structures are the same. Develop pricing for each country that will benefit your company, the distribution company, and provide value to your customer