Anyone who has a dental impression taken, a tooth filled or a crown cemented by a dentist assumes that the treatment will be carried out professionally and that it will last a long time. Whether this is the case depends mainly on a dentist’s ability, but the materials they use are just as important. Today’s dentists bank on reliable, innovative systems to ensure that materials are optimally mixed, dosed and applied. Such dental application systems are the specialty of Sulzer Mixpac, a company domiciled in Haag in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley, which is part of the Applicator Systems division of the Sulzer Group.
Sulzer Mixpac works closely with the world's leading manufacturers of dental materials. Research, development, testing and production is carried out in Haag – Swiss quality is in demand in this sector. The products are supplied to manufacturers of dental products located primarily in North America and Europe; in Europe, they mainly go to Germany.
“We are leaders in technology when it comes to application solutions for dental materials that are used in prosthetics and prevention as well as in tooth preservation, aesthetics and root canal treatment,” says Martina Strasser. As Global Sales Manager, she initiated market entry into Brazil a few years ago, with the support of Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) and the Swiss Business Hub Brazil in São Paulo.
Success thanks to a SWISS Pavilion
“We sought contact with S-GE to clarify the market potential for our dental products in Brazil.” Martina Strasser praises the “excellent network in this field” that the Swiss Business Hub has in the São Paulo region. An opinion leader was soon found: A dentist who lectures at the local university was won over by the Rheintal-based company’s products, and has since been campaigning for their use, in addition to successfully organizing workshops.
Another success factor was Sulzer Mixpac’s participation in CIOSP, South America’s largest dental trade fair, where they could and still can take advantage of S-GE’s SWISS Pavilion: Martina Strasser recalls: “We only had to set up our six-square-meter stand, and S-GE did the rest: from looking after guests, to catering and organizing lectures.” At their third visit to the fair in spring 2017, the Sulzer Mixpac stand had grown to 30 square meters and its presence in the SWISS Pavilion was expanded with product demonstrations and workshops for dentists. And this with success: “We have already booked our place in the SWISS Pavilion for CIOSP 2019.”
Assistance with recruiting
The initial successes meant that it was time to recruit a local sales person. “We were also supported in this regard by the experts that the Hub found for us.” They found a sales manager after three interviews. “She is still working successfully for us today,” says Strasser, “and we’ve now hired another salesperson with her support.”
By now, many Brazilian dentists are familiar with Swiss quality products, and the number of those who apply them in their practice is growing. Consisting of lectures and workshops, the “Opinion Leader” events also made a contribution; with the support of Swiss Business Hub Brazil, Sulzer Mixpac held the first event in the Swiss consulate, followed by a second, larger event in an external location.
“The Swiss Business Hub Brazil did an outstanding job,” says Martina Strasser. “Its support enables us to build valuable partnerships with customers and opinion leaders and to continuously increase our sales figures with the sales manager they helped us find.”
After the first and successful cooperation with S-GE she says: “We will continue to work with the Swiss Business Hub Brazil and also look forward to the support of Switzerland Global Enterprise with new projects.”
