How did the retrofit business start?

Karl Lowe, Regional Service Manager West Europe of Munters Ltd.
Retrofits have always been an important part of Munters Global Services business. Our air treatment equipment is designed and manufactured for a long life-time. Product improvement and optimization is an on-going and highly prioritized area not only limited to new products but that also includes equipment already in operation. The fan upgrade project is a natural addition to the number of upgrade solutions already available. The relationship between Munters and ebm-papst in the retrofit project originates from an existing personal contact. Following a department meeting at ebm-papst’s head office in the UK Munters presented the MX unit and asked them to review the current fan arrangement with a focus on developing an upgrade kit for the MX system.
Why are retrofits important to you and your customers?
Being a company for which sustainability is constantly in focus, it is important to us to be able to provide retrofit upgrades to extend life-time of well-functioning products. Our range of energy saving upgrade solutions fits perfectly to our customers constant need of reducing energy consumption and increase both production capacity and quality.
After starting with a few projects in the UK you decided to roll out an international initiative. How did that come along?
Since Munters operates with its own service organisation in more than 30 countries, we always share best practices and experience in our Global network. The Management Team of Munters Globals Services decided to include the fan upgrade solutions in the range of energy saving upgrades available.
How do they work? I guess energy efficiency is not a major topic in all of the 30 countries you’re active in.
Actually, it is. Within the industries where Munters’ air treatment equipment is used, saving energy is often a very important parameter. Customers seek solutions to reduce their energy consumption, which not only cut costs but also allow them to act in a more sustainable way. Some countries are forced by regulations, other act according to their company’s strategy.
Working with an international partner like ebm-papst makes processes on local adaptations easier.
Karl Lowe, Regional Service Manager West Europe of Munters Ltd.
How do you ensure the same high performance and quality in these international projects?
We maintain the same very high standard of performance by providing our service project team with in-house project training, which ensure Munters project managers working to the same high standards no matter where they are operating in the world.
How important is an international partner for these kind of projects?
Like many of our customers appreciate Munters Global presence, we do the same. Working with an international partner like ebm-papst makes processes on local adaptations etc. easier, since the basics are already in place.
What are the next steps?
What started out in the UK is planned to become a solution available to our customers globally.
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