Process Innovation Requires Agility: Can Your Gas Delivery Equipment Partner Keep Up?
It was recently announced that global industrial gases leaders Linde and Praxair have signed a definitive agreement to merge, bringing together two more of the largest providers in the industry (it happened once already in 2016 when Air Liquide acquired fellow tier one player Airgas). As these top companies continue to consolidate, the landscape of the industry itself is changing. The application of gases across vertical market segments is expanding, which has subsequently led to increased demand for specialty gas mixes, pure medical gases, and an increased desire to leverage even traditional gases like oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide.
Top players like Linde and Air Liquide focus primarily on supplying such gases, and as newly merged behemoth companies, are in a stronger position to keep up with growing gas volume demands. But gases are only part of the equation. Our industry also needs reliable equipment solutions to deliver those gases for increasingly diverse applications, enabling process adaptability without compromising molecule purity. And this is where the giants fall short.
Although the large gas suppliers offer equipment, they generally consider it as a means to an end, to get their bread and butter – the gases – where they need to go. With less emphasis on—and investment in—equipment innovation, their systems tend to be more rigid and offered in standard ‘one size fits all’ configurations. The sheer size of these companies, combined with this overall lack of equipment focus, makes it harder for them to readily react to any customization requirements.
AES takes a different approach.
We know that gas delivery systems are just as mission-critical as pure gases, because if the equipment contaminates or is unable to deliver the gases in a way that effectively supports the total process environment, then gas purity becomes irrelevant. We also see the significantly increased need for system flexibility. From semiconductor fabs to research labs and nearly every market in between, our customers are requesting gas delivery equipment with specific functionality to meet their very different application needs. They want to rapidly improve processes and require systems, solutions, and suppliers that can keep pace.
To that end, AES’ exclusive equipment focus is our primary strength. We have invested 100% in the engineering and manufacturing of high-performance gas delivery equipment, so that our systems can handle the array of gases and specialty mixtures supplied by the massive market players with premier levels of precision and purity.
Our extensive equipment expertise, combined with our impressive track record in multiple verticals, makes it easy for us to rapidly address system customization needs. We have the engineering agility to tailor our core products (or build new solutions) to meet customer-specific requirements on a case-by-case basis. This flexible, individualized approach ensures clients get the right-fit equipment they need to power their unique processes most effectively.
To innovate, you need agility.
Your environment is where you drive new innovation, and gas delivery systems are a big component of that. Make sure your equipment partner can be adaptable, and provide flexibility in their systems to give you better control over the speed and quality with which you innovate.
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