Elgi Equipments plans Europe expansion with a ‘disruptive’ product

With some innovative products under its belt, Coimbatore-based Elgi Equipments is drawing plans for expanding its footprint in Europe .

Showcasing its products at ComVac, Hannover Messe 2019, a leading trade show for compressed air and vacuum technology, Jairam Varadaraj, Managing Director, Elgi Equipments, said the company has “redefined the future of compressed air technology”.

‘Breakthrough’ technology

Addressing the media from Hannover, Varadaraj said the “Elgi stall did not just showcase some key innovations in compressed air solutions for varied requirements, but also ran one of our new oil-free, disruptive product, which is considered a breakthrough in oil-free compressed air technology. We are expecting a good traction over the next four days.” The exhibition opened on April 1 and ends on April 5.

“Europe is an important market for Elgi. It is the third largest market for compressors. The opportunity is huge,” said Vardaraj, but he did not give details of investmentthe company plans to make .

The company will look at both organic and inorganic growth . “We will look at acquiring companies that have a strong distribution and sales presence here. We are not looking at acquisition for products. Nothing has crystallised yet,” he added.

Talking about the ‘Always Better’ or AB Series launch, he said: “Stringent environmental regulations and concerns regarding air pollution has made us develop technology that specifically applies to solving the existing need for ‘oil-free air’. This AB Series is a disruption in oil-free compressed air technology, offering customers a solution at approximately 8 - 10 per cent reduced life cycle cost compared with the prevailing oil-free technology. With significantly lower maintenance and ease of use, customers will be assured of reliable, high air purity for sensitive industry applications.”

The company, in the first phase, plans to take this application for use in food processing, pharma, textiles and automotive industry. “We have gained 5 - 6 per cent of the market in Italy. We expect the same traction in other European countries as well.”

Energy-efficient

Elgi is also showcasing Air-Alert – an IoT-based machine monitoring platform, and some of its core products such as EN and EG Series – energy-efficient and highly reliable lubricated screw air-compressors, oil-free screw air compressors, direct drive piston compressors and heat recovery systems.