US-based Flowserve Corporation, which is one of the world’s largest suppliers of industrial and environmental machinery and services, aims to bring its predictive maintenance technology to Qatar.
Globally, there is a growing demand for predictive maintenance, which was designed to prevent asset failure and increase operational efficiency in industries.
The global predictive maintenance industry garnered $2.80bn in 2018, and is estimated to reach $23.01bn by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 30.2 percent from 2019-2026, according to the latest report by Allied Market Research.
Flowserve, which has over 18,000 employees in more than 55 countries, is now in talks with various industry leaders in Qatar to test the new technology and invest in this rapidly expanding market.
“Predictive maintenance is being demanded more and more by our customers globally. I believe this will continue in the years to come. We are beginning to have pilot tests for predictive maintenance with our customers in certain countries. And certainly we will bring this to Qatar. This is a region for us that is extremely important. And Qatar is one of those countries we feel very connected to. We’re looking forward to providing this as part of our additional product line and services to our customers here,” Tom Diez (pictured), Global Vice President for Distribution and OEM Seals & Sales Specialist at Flowserve told The Peninsula recently.
To date, Flowserve has one of the largest installed bases of pumps in Qatar. The company has been working in partnership with Qatari company Petrotec since 2003. Recently, the two companies inaugurated a dry gas seal repair facility in Qatar, as part of a localisation program for services and industries in the energy sector (Tawteen).
Diez added: “Qatar is a very significant market. And we’ve been expanding our relationship with Petrotec to provide local services to the Qatari customers. We’re bringing the latest technologies and are investing in new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), because we believe it is the future. Investments in LNG is extremely heavy in Qatar as well as the US. As demand increases, we will continue investing with Petrotec and supply what is required by the Qatari market”.
In Qatar, demand for predictive maintenance is mostly seen from customers in critical operations such as oil and gas sectors, the power sector, and other market leaders in the industries who are looking to reduce their capital investments and operating expenses, said Diez.
“Running an operation with lots of installed equipments, and if you can predict when a particular piece of equipment is going to fail, that adds a lot of value... And for many of these companies, a day of equipment being down represents revenue loss worth millions of dollars depending on the size of the industry. So they’re looking for solutions from companies who can provide the level of expertise and intelligence. And in our case, in the space where we operate, we believe that we can provide that. And that’s what we’re looking to work and develop,” Diez added.
