CARLISLE, PA/HACKETTSTOWN, NJ - RF Extreme, a business unit within The Vitec Group that comprises the leading microwave brands Nucomm, Microwave Service Company and RF Central, has announced the creation of its European regional office located in the United Kingdom.
"We created the European regional office to provide a dedicated UK-based sales and service facility," says RF Extreme President Stephen Shpock. "Although the office will be used primarily for EMEA customers, it will also provide service support for customers in Asia (where there are some hours in the working day that overlap)."
The new RF Extreme regional office shares space with the Vitec group's 'Broadcast Systems' division, Camera Dynamics Ltd, in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. The location provides dedicated areas for sales and administration and is in the process of equipping a technical area for product testing and servicing, product training, product acceptance and demonstration.
"We are in a very fortunate position of being able to utilize many resources from the existing Vitec facility including HR, administrative and accounts functions, dispatch, goods inwards, conference rooms, video conferencing facilities, and much more," continues Shpock. "This keeps us lean and focused solely on the task at hand - sales, sales support and customer technical support/service. Another benefit of utilizing an existing Vitec location is that we were up and running in less than a week from first arriving on-site."
A further synergistic benefit is the global roll-out of the latest IFS Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system across all Vitec divisions. Both the Vitec Broadcast Systems and RF Extreme divisions are well into the process of transferring their existing MRP and accounts functions to the IFS system. Once complete, tasks such as ordering spare parts, logistics, invoicing and data tracking will be standardized across both companies, greatly improving the efficiency of the service function in particular.
"We are now able to provide our European customers with confidence that they are buying products which can be supported locally using a wide variety of resources rather than just one or two locations in the U.S.," adds Shpock. "For European customers in particular, returning products to the United States for repair can be a long, time-consuming process. By providing a European-based service center, RF Extreme now has the ability to offer a faster turn-around with no customs concerns."
As Director of International Sales for RF Extreme, Simon Clifford is now overseeing the new European regional office. With 25 years of experience in the microwave broadcast industry, 19 of those years in international sales of microwave broadcast products. Clifford is responsible for the international sales and service teams outside of the Americas. Holding a long track record of sales in EMEA, Asia and the United States, Clifford first joined the Vitec Group's Nucomm in March 2007.
To lead its European customer support function, RF Extreme recruited Keith Gibson, who joined RF Extreme from sister Vitec company 'Vinten Radamec', where he was a senior service engineer. With 25 years of electronics experience, 20 of which in the broadcast industry, Gibson will manage the sales support and customer service activities.
The European regional office is backed by integrated engineering, technical and customer support resources from both Nucomm's and RF Central's U.S. headquarters, to assure best-in-class service. Vitec's RF Extreme division provides high-quality solutions to professional users and distinctive global markets including broadcast, sports/entertainment and military, aerospace government ("MAG").
