Trane Man

Gerhard Hope , February 28th, 2010

MEP Middle East speaks to Nigel Hawley, Trane’s new GM for the Middle East, Africa and India region about the company’s outlook for growth in 2010.

Can you give us a bit of your background?

I joined Trane as finance leader for the Middle East in October 2006. I was promoted to GM of the Middle East, Africa and India region in March 2009. Before this I spent four years in a corporate finance role with American Standard, the Trane parent company, in its European HQ in Brussels. Prior to this I spent 13 years with KPMG, a global professional services firm, in various financial/consulting roles working in the UK and the US,

What does your current role encompass?

I have overall responsibility for Trane’s operations in Middle East, India and Africa. This includes strategy, sales and operational performance and key customer relations. Our growth initiatives are focused on market expansion (Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and India) and new product introductions.
With regard to the latter, we are especially excited by our new AquaStream range of air-cooled chillers, which are equipped with high-efficiency scroll compressors.

The key benefits to users are high levels of energy efficiency, low sound levels, easy and quick installation, even greater reliability and durability and enhanced serviceability and safety. We are also focusing on expansion of services (maintenance, repairs, parts, etc.), new offerings from our controls and contracting businesses, while we also aim to attract, develop and retain the best talent in the industry.

What strategy are you adopting?

Despite the current market we stay fixed on a strategy of profitable growth based on aggressive new product introductions, market expansion and, of course, providing even better levels of customer service. Growing our services, controls and contracting business is a key part of this.

Will business stabilise this year?

Yes, in terms of our core business, excluding district cooling and unitary, which are two segments badly affected by the market downturn, especially in Dubai, and I do not expect to see this changing dramatically in 2010.

Are customers struggling in terms of payment at the moment?

We are generally involved at the early stages of projects, so where the credit crisis has affected us most is that projects have been delayed or cancelled. However, it is clear that some customers, especially contractors, are suffering with delayed payments from their customers (developers).

Overall we have not suffered particularly from payment delays, and have no significant exposure.

What are your biggest growth areas at the moment?

Services – maintenance, repairs, parts – and then equipment. With such a vast portfolio, it can be difficult selecting just one or two specific products. However, I would say that we are expecting good growth prospects from our airside range as a result of new product introductions and refinements. In addition, we detect greater emphasis on indoor air quality from owners and developers, which is also driving demand to more sophisticated and efficient selections. We have also expanded our manufacturing footprint, which will give clients the opportunity to source quality Trane products from locations closer to their markets, thus saving on freight costs.

Are you expanding regionally?

We have our own offices here in Dubai plus Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Egypt, Lebanon and across India. All other countries are covered by distributors, which are also serviced from an experienced team in Dubai. This year we are expanding in the Gulf, and expect to have our own direct office opened in Qatar in the next few months. Dubai is definitely one of the most depressed markets, along with Kuwait.

How important is the MENA region to Trane globally?

Very important. We are the global leader in direct drive, low-pressure, high-efficiency centrifugal chillers, which is the industry’s preferred choice for large district cooling projects, and therefore the Middle East is a key market for us. Trane has a defined strategy to maximise growth across all emerging markets, and MENA is clearly a key part of this.

Last year’s economic difficulties were compounded further by the refrigerant phase-out?

That is not exactly how I would put it. Trane’s philosophy is to produce and sell the most energy-efficient and environmentally-responsible HVAC systems and solutions possible. Refrigerant change is a constant in our industry. Last year was particularly exciting and challenging as a result of the US decision to stop producing equipment with R22 from 31 December 2009.

This was the catalyst for a massive redesign project that resulted in Trane introducing more new models in 2009 than we had in the previous 20 years. But I want to be clear that this redesign process went much further than simply regulatory compliance. We used this opportunity to further raise the performance of our range in areas where we already lead the field – that is, energy efficiency, reliability, durability and serviceability.

Even in markets like the Middle East, which are not being driven by legislation, we are seeing increasing interest and demand for newer environmentally responsible and efficient product ranges, and we are happy and determined to remain at the forefront of these developments.

What is on the cards for the region in terms of new products?

• AquaStream (CGAM scroll chillers, being the top of the range in the market from a quality, efficiency and durability perspective);
• New R410a unitary products;
• New TVR Trane product ( VRF application);
• Chilled beams; and
• Eddy current testing.

Trane is focusing heavily on ‘green’ products?

Demand for environmentally responsible buildings is growing as people realise it is not a cost, but a wise investment. Green buildings are designed with energy efficiency, indoor air quality (IAQ) and sustainable materials in mind.

The right HVAC system is critical to green building. As a leading global supplier of HVAC systems and services, with more than 450 LEED Accredited Professionals (APs), Trane can help clients achieve their green building goals.

Seeing that more and more businesses recognise the importance of building green, Trane actively supports the green building councils around the world, including the UAE and the US, and conferences such as Greenbuild and the Green Building Congress. We are advancing building technologies and solutions that accelerate the design and construction of green communities. We are a founding member of the Emirates Green Building Council.

Customer value and aftermarket support continue to be critical focus areas?

Trane works with facility owners, developers, designers and installers to reduce operating costs and raise productivity. We do this by managing energy consumption, controlling maintenance expenses, improving comfort and IAQ, ensuring reliability, addressing health, safety and environmental issues, providing meaningful information and reducing risk, complexity and schedules during project phase.

In terms of the aftermarket, our machines are designed for multi-year use, and when originally selecting and recommending solutions to our customers, we are focused on optimising lifecycle costing and performance. Optimum efficiency is only possible over the life of the machine when proper and regular preventative maintenance is performed. This is a part of our business we are investing in heavily, and we are experiencing dramatic growth.

We have a very comprehensive proactive service offering service offering including upgrades related to the environment (leak testing, refrigerant monitoring, noise reduction, IAQ, refrigerant retrofit), reliability (vibration analysis, tube testing, oil analysis, exchanger enhancement and compressor renewal) and energy (exchanger cleaning, variable frequency drives, heat recovery, control retrofit, remote monitoring). We offer comprehensive maintenance contracts to provide optimised equipment operation, low maintenance costs and minimised energy consumption, budgetable expenses, compliance with local government and environment regulations, constant performance with no hassles or worries, elimination of operating losses, limited downtime and, most importantly, reliability of service and best cost of ownership.

What is your outlook for the year ahead, and into 2011?

I believe 2010 will be just as difficult as 2009 – and, in some respects, more difficult this time around, as we all know what to expect now. I believe we will continue to see growth in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, but at lower levels than experienced previously. Dubai itself will stay depressed for several years to come, but one has to put things into perspective in the fact that there are still more new projects here even today than anywhere else in the world.

Anything else you would like to add?

Trane is a proud member of Ingersoll Rand. Specifically we are part of the Climate Solutions Sector, which comprises other world-leading brands such as Hussman, Koxka and Thermo King. It is our goal to help customers make their businesses, facilities and processes more efficient, safer and more comfortable by bringing industry leading products, services and solutions.