Increasing international presence

Tox claims for itself the distinction of being the oldest producer of fixing plugs in Germany and the market leader for all-purpose plugs. “That is the basis of our business,” says Wolfgang Moll, Tox sales and marketing director, “and, taking it as a starting point, we intend to position ourselves more strongly in new markets in the future.”
Today the company is already represented all over the world: Tox can be found in 60 different countries. Currently Tox is particularly active in Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands, as well as Finland, Spain, France, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria. What is more, it has representatives of its own in the USA, the UK and China. But the aim overall is to increase the company’s presence both in Europe and in other countries worldwide, so the search is on for suitable partners.The focus is specially on England in the current efforts to increase the proportion of exports. Tox already controls a subsidiary there and works in collaboration with a great number of partners on the spot. “The island’s DIY stores are booming as nowhere else,” says Moll, “and of course we want to benefit from that as well.” The entire product pallet is distributed without exception under the “Tox” brand name and in uniform packaging. There are five languages included on the packaging for western Europe: German, English, French, Spanish and Italian.
Bei Allzweckdübeln versteht sich Tox als Marktführer in Deutschland.
The situation is different in eastern Europe. Here the strategy is not to work with standard packaging but to decide on what is appropriate and produce it case by case. The reasons behind this are sometimes very specific market regulations that also have an effect on the labelling of the packaging.In the process of opening up new markets the aim is not only to have recourse to the hitherto tried and trusted products, but also to develop and present country-specific articles tailored to the individual market.Tox was founded in 1947 and currently employs a workforce of 120, achieving sales of € 15 mio in 2003. In addition to the all-purpose plugs, the company’s product programme includes a whole range of other types of plugs, heavy-duty anchorage systems, compound anchor systems, plus special fixing systems for sanitary and other installations. The ratio of exports to other sales is currently around 30 per cent. However, it is hoped that export sales will reach the same level as domestic sales in the…