The entrepreneurs wanted to launch an original project to develop an industrial radiography instrument, a project their former employer had refused to adopt due to the limited market for such a specific product. Yet the two men were determined to overcome all obstacles and before long they had obtained the support they needed.

At the end of 1992, Mr Gouffaux (a former commercial manager) and Mr Paulus (an engineer from a major multinational) approached the European Business and Innovation Centre in Liège (BIC), called SOCRAN, to ask for help in establishing an SME.

This support came from the SOCRAN BIC in the form of a workshop and shared services, help in drawing up a business plan, professional assistance in developing the project (notably through the University) and a financial participation by FAIR (a seed capital fund created with the help of the European Community) in the start-up capital of the new business.

FAIR originally invested 3 million Belgian Francs out of the initial total capital of BEF 11 million, and it has now provided BEF 5 million out of a total capital of 15 million. The company itself has an option to buy the shares within five years, with an obligation to buy within eight years, which provides a flexible formula giving a viable project a chance to succeed. To this was added a BEF 10 million loan from the Region of Wallonia.

Once it had been established, the firm, Industrial Control Machines (ICM), began to perfect its new product, known as SITE-X, a portable generator for x-rays for use in check-ing welded joints in pipelines and reservoirs. Once it is placed inside a particular object, SITE-X sends x-rays to photographic films situated outside; the image is then analysed. In the case of pipelines, the generator is towed into the tube by a small tractor. All this is done by remote control. SITE-X converts an ordinary voltage into a tension of 300 000 volts to release 1 to 2% of its output in the form of x-rays; the rest is turned into heat calories which are discharged as much as possible.

There is very little competition for SITE-X, which is both robust, lightweight and 100% efficient; other machines only achieve a 50% efficiency rate due to the fact that they have to be turned off to cool down. Sales were launched in March 1995, with 30 examples being sold worldwide that year alone, which is quite a lot in that particular sector. ICM hopes to do twice as well in 1996 and anticipates a turnover of over BEF 40 million. In addition to the five people employed by ICM, a single generator involves 100 hours of subcontracting work, most of it carried out in the region, all of which adds a new dimension and an extra competitiveness to this leading-edge activity.

The main difficulty the firm encountered was in designing prototypes, which took 26 months instead of the 12 originally envisaged. The professional experience gained by both entrepreneurs and their knowledge of the market were their main assets, but would that have been enough without SOCRAN's support?

Established 10 years ago, SOCRAN has supported 300 SMEs a year, 40% of which did not even exist in 1985, and it has helped to create 1 000 new jobs in innovatory activities, half of them in new companies. It unites 19 public and private shareholders in a common initiative to tackle the region's industrial decline, with the help of European Community assistance.

It was SOCRAN which invested the European Community's contribution in FAIR (which today represents 4% of the total investment). Thanks to a whole range of services (accommodation for fledgling SMEs, training), the Liège BIC not only helps entrepreneurs to get their project «in the pipeline» but also to check their welded joints!

SOCRAN is part of EBN. EBN is the leading European network gathering 160 Business and Innovation centres (B.I.C.s) and similar organisations such as incubators, innovation centres and entrepreneurship centres.

CEEI SOCRAN
Phone: +32 (0) 4 367 83 11
info@socran.be

01/01/1982

case

Urban Policy > Economy knowledge & employment > Urban economy

Business support