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* Prospector Wire Processors (four models);
* EZ-TRAX conveyor systems (five models).
Mr Szany recalls that, in 2003, he inherited a sales

forecast of US$ 6 million which meant Nexgen was to
account for around 6% of Marathon’s US$ 96 million
turnover. ‘In five years, the company has grown by
about US$ 30 million,’ he calculates, ‘and about US$
19 million of that growth has resulted from Nexgen –
the fastest-growing part of Marathon’s business.’

International sales

Mr Szany also recognised that Marathon rarely
did more than US$ 1 million of business each year
in the international arena. ‘I suggested that we
weren’t emphasising that business enough,’ he
relates, ‘and management said, “go to it”.’

Jesse Nasianceno joined Nexgen in August 2005
as Regional Sales Manager for international sales.
Mr Szany notes: ‘By the time 2006 rolled around, we
had grown the international business by a total of
50% over the best previous base year. In 2006, our
international sales were roughly US$ 3 million – still
very small, but a major increase. However, 2007
sales were virtually stagnant at US$ 3.5 million.’

The reason? ‘We had difficulty adjusting to the
cultures of the various countries in which we were
doing business,’ says Mr Szany. ‘There wasn’t the
realisation that we had to do things differently to be
acceptable to the international market such as
translating manuals, making electrical currents
compatible and meeting certification processes.’

The result? ‘Everyone within the company had to
step up – purchasing, engineering, manufacturing

and service,’ he explains. ‘We conducted internal
seminars for our employees stressing that it’s not
what we want to do that’s important; it’s what our
customers expect from us.’

A first step was to hire a technical writer to
translate manuals into the appropriate languages.
The electronics on Nexgen machines were improved
to include the option of interface data in other lan-
guages. ‘If you’re going to do self-diagnosis through
your PLCs, your PLCs better be set-up with the
appropriate language,’ Mr Szany comments.

Promoting dealerships

Nexgen has also been promoting dealerships
throughout the world. Currently, the company has
dealers in the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Romania,
Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,
Singapore, Mexico, Ecuador, Uruguay, Trinidad,
the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. Negotiations are
under way to establish dealers in the Philippines,
India, South Korea and China.

In December 2007, Fred Prins was named
Nexgen’s Regional Sales Manager for the Eastern
Hemisphere – incorporating Europe, the Middle
East, Asia, Africa and Australia. ‘Our business in
that area hasn’t been more than US$ 500 000 or
US$ 600 000 a year, so this is a building block,’ says
Mr Szany. ‘Mr Prins has his sights set on doing US$
5 million in that territory this year. Mr Nasianceno
will now be responsible for international sales in
Mexico, Central and South America and the
Caribbean.’ Prospector wire chopping systems have
been sold in Uruguay and Mexico and negotiations
on a unit are under way in Argentina.

A Galaxy 2R was sold earlier this year by the com-
pany’s UK dealer. It is Nexgen’s fourth two-ram in the
UK. All four are being used to bale plastic – an applica-
tion in which Mr Szany believes Nexgen is the leader.

Competitive products

Looking ahead, Mr Szany says: ‘I have to believe
that because of exchange rates and the competitive-
ness of our products, Germany, the Netherlands
and the UK should be strong markets for us in the
coming years.’ In terms of dollar sales, he expects
Nexgen’s Galaxy 2R balers will be predominant.

‘In terms of units,’ he adds, ‘we’re going to sell a
lot of Marathon’s Vert-I-Pack (VIP) vertical com-
pactors. It’s a unique product that goes into the
parking lot of a fast-food store. We introduced the
VIP in Sweden and our dealer believes he can sell
thousands of them there. The unit sells for US$
10 000, and five can be shipped in an export con-
tainer for US$ 700 each, so freight will not be dis-

ruptive in getting that business.’
Mr Szany believes that, as the

company becomes more involved
in Europe, ‘we’re going to learn
new ways to solve the problems we
solve’. He adds: ‘We are serious
about integrating some of the
things we see European manufac-
turers do into our product lines,
and the best place to do that ini-
tially is in our products going to
Europe. I think all of our cus-
tomers will benefit from this cross-
pollination of equipment ideas.’

Marathon is using its Nexgen
product line to build its interna-
tional dealer base ‘because we feel
that long-term, our balers will be
more exportable than our com-
pactors’, says Mr Szany. ‘We
expect to double the number of
dealers we have in 2008, mostly in
the EU, and we also hope to have
dealers in Japan.’

Mr Szany’s outlook for
Nexgen’s international sales in
2008 is US$ 8 million. His five-
year forecast is US$ 50 million.
‘Our reputation is growing around
the world and the Internet brings
everyone closer together,’ he con-
cludes.

S U P P L I E R

Recycling International • March 2008 49

For more information:
Marathon Equipment
Company
Vernon, Alabama, USA
Phone: +1 205 695 9105
Fax: +1 205 695 8813
www.nexgenbalers.com

Joe Szany, Director of Nexgen Sales: ‘Our
reputation is growing around the world.’

RI_016 Supplier Marathon:Opmaak 1 28-02-2008 15:33 Pagina 49