Exporter Profile: Mining new markets

With its 3D geological modelling software, Christchurch company ARANZ Geo is achieving worldwide success.
NZBusiness has the story behind a remarkable company mining a specialist niche market. By Glenn Baker.

Have you heard the story about how NASA engaged ARANZ Geo to convert data on a space asteroid into a 3D model? The space agency had heard about the modelling the Canterbury company had done for Weta Workshops on the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
ARANZ Geo put its Leapfrog geological modelling software to work and sent the 3D model to the US with a bill for a paltry $1,500. The Americans were convinced some zeroes had been accidently left off!
Such stories reinforce not just the costeffective capability of this locally developed software, but also its immense market potential – primarily the mining, geothermal
and hydrogeological sectors. And it explains why this relatively new Kiwi company has been leapfrogging up the growth charts in recent times.
The 3D scanning technology for Leapfrog originated from ARANZ (Applied Research Associates NZ Limited) which originally had a medical focus, and which ARANZ Geo broke away from in December 2011 to fly solo, both from a legal and operative perspective. The software today still borrows heavily from the original medical methodology of imaging, and is just as fast at producing results.
Ironically, the ground beneath the very city in which ARANZ Geo is based has proved to be a study target for the software.
Leapfrog was used by GNS Science to develop a detailed 3D geological model of Christchurch.
The model is said to be amongst the most comprehensive and detailed of its kind in the world and will help in the rebuild of the city. It clearly shows the spatial arrangement of numerous geological layers under Christchurch and the Canterbury Plains – and will undergo three stages of peer review before being made available to the public in 2013.
Shaun Maloney, the Christchurch-born CEO of ARANZ Geo, says there is no other software quite like Leapfrog, and it’s a credit to the team of developers that they were able to continue developing the product following the two catastrophic earthquakes in Christchurch and the subsequent changing of premises (the company was forced to move five times).
Leapfrog has competitors on the international market, but Maloney points out that they are mostly generalist products focused on the entire lifestyle of a mining operation. Leapfrog is specialised geological modelling software and always will be, he says.
Clients like the software because it is highly accurate and therefore less risky. It is certainly more accurate than geological models of the past – and with the ability to continually add new data, improvements to the model are ongoing. The ability to feed in multiple data streams is another bonus – being able to factor in hydrology data, for example, is clearly an advantage for geologists.
Leapfrog is an ‘implicit’ modelling platform too, explains Maloney, rather than ‘explicit’. “Implicit modelling implies the shape is based purely on the data fed into the
software – whereas explicit platforms create the shapes with a certain degree of interpretation.”
While the product is now well accepted and respected, Maloney says there was a degree of suspicion by various people in the market in the early days. “It’s a bit like the introduction of tractors on farms, or the electronic calculator,” he says. “Their speed and accuracy was initially questioned until a level of trust was built up. Leapfrog was such a paradigm shift.”
Maloney also acknowledges the big step the company has had to make from the early days when clients were mostly early adopters keen to try out a new product and forgiving of any early bugs. Today ARANZ Geo is a considerable business with an eight figure turnover; clients all over the world are expecting full product support from partners on the ground. And so ARANZ Geo has secured representative distributors in Vancouver, Lima, Santiago and Johannesburg. It has also just opened an office in Western Australia to serve the mining market there. In fact the WA office is located in Fremantle – considered a ‘cool’ place to visit by Leapfrog users.
Lessons on selling offshore Maloney believes their quick success in overseas markets has largely been due to jumping on planes and building local partnerships face to face. “Skype, webinars and email are all very good, but don’t rely on them. Get to the decision-maker. There’s no substitute for eyeballing a potential distributor or client and shaking their hand.
For software exporters specifically, Maloney’ key piece of advice is “understand your user”. He says ARANZ Geo no longer measures the success of its product in terms of licensed sales, but focuses squarely on the user experience. “That comes with its own set of challenges, but it’s important to get feedback from customers on the whole buying and support process.” He likens it to purchasing a car – the engine’s not the selling point of a vehicle, it’s more about the look and feel; how easy and enjoyable it is to drive. With the aim of making Leapfrog even more intuitive and user-friendly, they’ve made the product modular. So the base package satisfies 80 percent of the market, while additional modules look after those others who want that extra functionality.
It’s all about matching features with requirements says Maloney.
Year-on-year growth for ARANZ Geo has been impressive to say the least and the goal is to significantly increase user numbers and continue to evolve the product. A large percentage of the company’s marketing budget so far has gone into attending international trade shows – and that’s not about to change.
Meanwhile the Canterbury quakes have provided plenty of challenges – and positives.
Maloney recalls sharing a three by two metre office space with two others. But now housed in a refurbished warehouse and with just under 50 staff, the future for ARANZ Geo is looking very positive.
He says the quakes taught them one thing early on – not to sweat the small stuff. “We all shared a common desire to make work a place of normality. We were all affected; we all needed to escape from what was going on – so work had to be a supportive, fun and stimulating place. And we had a new sense of urgency, a real ‘can do’ attitude.”
Business growth has also meant bringing in new staff members from outside Christchurch, indeed outside New Zealand, who in turn are contributing to the local economy. Maloney is especially proud of that fact.
Shifting premises five times has also necessitated five disaster recovery exercises
– you could say they’re experts when it comes to risk management.