Highlights
Nicholas Newman, Regional Managing Director, Alfa Laval Middle East Ltd talks about how innovation remains at the heart of everything that Alfa Laval does
Please share an overview on Alfa Laval.
Alfa Laval has the vision of creating better everyday conditions for people — everywhere. Developing products from 1883, our company was founded on a single brilliant invention — the centrifugal separator — and innovation remains at the heart of everything we do. Today, we are recognised as one of the world’s most innovative companies and have a truly global presence.
Our products are used in industrial processes that are crucial for society, helping our customers optimise their processes to reduce energy use, protect the environment, and make food and pharmaceutical production safer.
Alfa Laval’s products are used in applications across a range of industries around the world. They play an important role in the production of chemicals, starch, paper, metals, sugar and ethanol, and are used onboard vessels and in the engineering sector, mining industry and refinery sector, as well as for treating wastewater and creating a comfortable indoor climate. Alfa Laval products and solutions are also found in the food and pharmaceutical industries, where they secure safe and hygienic processes.
Our key sectors are food, biotech and pharma, oil, gas and refinery, power, petrochemicals, biofuels, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, marine, and wastewater treatment
What are Alfa Laval’s key areas of expertise, and what would you say lies behind the company’s global success? Can you tell us a bit about how it has evolved over the years?
Alfa Laval offers efficient and environmentally responsible products and solutions built on the three key technologies of heat transfer, separation and fluid handling. Each technology is crucial for a range of industrial processes. Today, Alfa Laval is a world leader within all three technology areas. We have reached this position thanks to our innovative spirit, our early international expansion, and our ability to meet changing needs and conditions with new solutions. With more than 3,500 patents, Alfa Laval focuses on innovation and product development and invests heavily in R&D activities, launching 30-40 new products every year.
Our worldwide organisation works closely with customers in almost 100 countries and delivers high levels of service standards to clients. Alfa Laval has 39 production units, more than 100 service centres, sales companies in 55 countries, and other sales representation in 45 countries.
Please tell us about your operations in the Middle East. What industries do Alfa Laval mainly cater to within the region and what have been its major projects?
Alfa Laval has been present in the region since the 1950s, working closely with industry partners. Its first regional office was established in Lebanon in 1969. To meet the increasing demand to be closer to our customer base, Alfa Laval Middle East, the region’s headquarters, was established in Dubai in 1994.
Today, we cater to 19 countries, supplying Alfa Laval’s full product portfolio and aftersales support across our key sectors. We also have a broad network of more than 45 partners in the region, who help us work even closer with our customers.
Our energy-efficient heat exchangers, used for heating and cooling, are installed in major process plants and across iconic infrastructure in the region. Some of our major projects in the maritime industry include installation of equipment for reducing sulphur oxides emissions and advanced ballast water treatment systems to meet environmental legislations. We work very closely with pharma and food and beverage manufacturers to make production safer.
Alfa Laval is considered a leader in the area of sustainability. Can you tell us about the company’s role in furthering sustainable development in the UAE?
For more than a century, Alfa Laval has been providing customers with solutions that enable them to reuse and protect natural resources, such as energy and water, in their industrial processes. Our technologies are constantly improved and refined to optimise our customers’ processes, reduce their environmental impact and reach their sustainability goals.
Alfa Laval contributes to progress and enables change. By implementing our Business Principles, setting measurable goals and working to continuously improve, we contribute to several of the UN Global Goals. Alfa Laval’s products and solutions enable our customers to improve the efficiency of their production processes by, for example, improving energy efficiency, reusing water or reducing waste.
