Innovation

Its modernization is centered in the upgrade of processes standards for the maximization of clients effort but also holding their sustainable execution in its procedures, for example, through the improvement of energy capability, the diminution of emissions, the sanitizing of water, the mitigation of waste and the maximum utilisation of natural materials. Sixty nine years ago the heat exchangers, its main and most innovative product, arrived to the market and today it has improved its use, becoming thus in the figure good of the company. This product, know as the Gasketed Plate Heat Exchanger, consists in a group of corrugated metal plates that helps in the storing of energy for the transportation of heat process in multiple businesses. Its employment goes from motor cooling to power creation systems and its primary advantage for its buyers is the assistance on improving their energy efficiency at an inferior value, with greater facilities and with a basic maintenance, becoming a helpful product for both the companies and the environment.

Inspiration

The first heat exchanger was developed by Alfa-Laval in 1938 as a better and cheaper way to transfer heat between two or more fluids. And through many decades, its main focus was to generate innovations that could make it the leader of the market. But late of 2000, Alfa Laval has changed the way it sees the market, its impact on the environment and also the way that its products can help to combat the climate change.Now, besides investing 2.5% of its annual sales for R&D to develop new products that can position it in the top-of-vanguard companies, it has turned its sight to the environmentally friendly products, because it understands that a company is not only about incomes and market share, but also its customer relationship, the context in which it operates, the world in which it exists, and the future that it can inherit for the future generations.

Overall impact

Its wide range of products are destined for many types of industry and multiple applications from heating, cooling and heat recovery to condensation and evaporation. One of the objectives of this company is to increase its product variety to cover different segments or industries, keeping its focus on the flexibility. Besides, its products have many advantages for the customers, like energy efficiency, the flexibility to be applied in many systems, the optimal performance adaptable to specific needs, the ease of installation and the serviceability.This way, by improving the efficiency of the heat exchanger, the companies can increase at optimal levels their production and reduce their energy consumption, their environmental footprint and their energy costs.

Taking into count the environmental impact, Alfa Laval operates its manufacturing with an environmental management system, with a careful and annual observation and evaluation of its energy consumption and emissions to air and water, that is presented in its Alfa Laval’s Sustainability Report. But also, this company strives in performing its operations as cleanly and efficiently as possible, taking in consideration the environmental aspects in all the activities of its value chain, from developing its products to its marketing activities. In every step it identifies the main environmental impacts of its products and operations and develops the adequate measures to reduce them. All its work is supported by implementing environmental management systems (normally certified to ISO 14001) in all its manufacturing operations.

Business benefit

The innovation offered by its plate heat exchanger, and the continuous research and development of new products has allowed Alfa Laval to become the leading global provider of specialized products and to stay in the market since 1880. After many years, the essence of the company remains the same, with the quality in its products as the banner of the company, and the knowledge that it has got from its customers through all these years has meant a steady improvement every year for both the companies and the environment. Its inspiration comes from taking the global changes into opportunities to improve the human living conditions through engineering solutions. And to drive their performance in the best way, Alfa Laval is based on four business principles: Social compromise, business integrity, respect for the environment and transparency in all its operations. All this leads Alfa Laval’s path for a better world.

The competitive advantage that Alfa Laval has in the technology industry is through the differentiation of its products and the way they connect with the customers' needs at a lower environmental impact, generating greatest energy savings for companies, depending on the commercial approach, and investing in human capital to manufacture the products at the level of what the industry needs.

Social and environmental benefit

Besides Alfa Laval’s quality assurance, this company manufactures its products with recycled materials that can represent 50% to 90% of the total components for every product. The degree of recycled material in stainless steel 316 is typically between 60-90%. But also, the packing materials for its products consist of wood, recycled plastics, cardboard boxes and, in some cases, metal straps. These characteristics are applied also to the Alfa Laval’s suppliers due to the company requirements. And in the product painting it uses a two-component water based polyamide cured epoxy coating pigmented with zinc phosphate, checking if the components of the painting are not listed in the EU legislation and global agreements, such as the Montreal Protocol and the REACH Candidate List, as dangerous or pollutant substances.

Regarding its main product, the heat exchanger, it doesn’t produce emissions nor consume energy. And to transport its products with the minimum level of CO2 emissions, Alfa Laval evaluates its transportation providers to classify them from an environmental point of view, and it demands them to generate ideas in the transportation that would reduce their environmental impact.

Interview

Iván Meza, Service Operation Manager