April saw a little slice of German industrial prowess in the shape of Voith Turbo opening up shop in Dubai’s TechnoPark.
German engineering firm Voith Turbo officially opened its new subsidiary in Dubai’s TechnoPark on April 7 following a 2-year construction period. The new Voith premises spans an area covering 12,000 square metres in the free zone.
“Voith Turbo in Dubai covers all divisions and will enable us to react fast and competently within the region”, Huub Hendrickx, Voith Turbo Middle East’s executive VP said.
Voith Turbo recognised the enormous market potential of Dubai as early as the nineties. Since 2003, Voith has been looking after its Middle East customers directly from the region – initially from the neighbouring Emirate of Sharjah, and since April from Dubai itself.
At present, 36 people work for Voith in Dubai, and 23 employees are based in Iran who report to the Dubai office.
“Voith Turbo has one of the most modern and best-equipped workshops in the area,” stated Hendrickx, who also outlines the strategy of Voith Turbo in Dubai: “Alongside new orders and the supply of drive components, we also offer long-term maintenance contracts and high-quality after sales service.”
Drive components for industrial plants are another focal point of Voith Turbo in Dubai – especially in the oil and gas and energy generation industries.
The Voith Turbo product range for these industries covers primarily fluid couplings, Vorecons and high-performance gears. The company has installed approximately 3,000 units in the Middle East.
In the market region “Greater Middle East” with its 19 million square kilometres, the oil and gas fields of Saudi Aramco and the gas fields in Qatar offer enormous business potential for Voith – both for new plants and for overhauls, maintenance and retrofits.
For marine components the Dubai shipyard Lamprell Energy is currently building two special vessels (Windcarriers), each fitted with three Voith Schneider Propellers.
Voith Turbo is a specialist in hydrodynamic drives, coupling and braking systems for road, rail and industrial applications, in addition to the propulsion systems in ships.
“There are not so many hydrodynamic component suppliers left in the oil and gas industry,” explained Hendrickx. “I think actually Voith is the only one because of our 140-year experience in hydrodynamics, every year we spend 5-6% of our revenues in new innovative developments,” he added.
Founded in 1867 and headquartered in Heidenheim, Germany, Voith, the parent company of Voith Turbo employs almost 40 000 people, generating US$7.5 billion in sales and operating in about 50 countries around the world.
