Gulf Construction Online - VTS Clima looks to expand in Gulf

Air Control & Ventilation

VTS Clima is headquartered in Poland.

VTS Clima looks to expand in Gulf

A leading European air-handling unit manufacturer is keenly eyeing prospects in the Gulf and is set to boost its presence in the region by opening representative offices.

01 July 2003

VTS Clima Corporation, one of Europe's leading air handling unit (AHU) manufacturers, has major plans on the drawing boards to position itself as the leading supplier of AHUs in the region's fast-growing markets, especially the UAE.

"Major investment and ambitious strategies have been drawn up to establish the company as the leading European AHU manufacturer in the GCC market," says a spokesman for the company.
Over the past two years, the company - which has established a niche for itself in western, central and eastern Europe - has been trying actively to promote its products in the Middle East and Asia markets.
"While the most attractive markets are those that are rapidly developing such as Eastern Europe and Asia, the Middle East - which has been growing continuously over the past few years - is the most impressive," he says. "These markets are seriously pursuing their construction plans, justifying any large investments that the companies entering the GCC intend to make in the region."
Established in 1989 in Poland, the corporation today has four manufacturing plants in central and eastern Europe, one in China and an assembly unit in the UAE.
VTS Clima has established its presence worldwide, especially in Europe, Russia and other CIS countries. In the Middle East, the company has offices in Jebel Ali, Dubai and Abu Dhabi and plans to open representative offices in Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It is also keen to take part in Iraq's reconstruction process. It has begun operating through dealers, which has enabled it to enter different markets simultaneously, thus speeding up its activities in the GCC.
The company's philosophy is to constantly develop and improve its product and services in a bid to deliver even better solutions to its clients.
VTS Clima takes advantage of its highly specialised expertise in air-handling units, by using its skills to further enhance its products and reduce manufacturing costs, affording cost-savings in the purchase of entire heating, cooling, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
"The implementation of modern management and logistics systems, together with the fully automotive production lines, enables the company to enhance the quality of its products while lowering production costs," he says.
It also expends significant amounts of money on R&D to ensure it offers superior quality at attractive prices, the spokesman says.
The company regularly launches new, more customer-friendly and technological advanced solutions, and is therefore recognised worldwide for its pioneering approach towards AHU manufacturing technology.
It focuses on the production of air conditioning and ventilating products that address the issues of energy savings and heat recovery.
Its AHUs come in a new mono-block construction together with a new casing solution, which results in a lower price and eliminates thermal bridges. Furthermore, polyurethane foam insulated panels reduce the weight of the unit while eliminating moisture absorption and reducing loss of cooling energy.
Other innovations include energy recovery solutions, PDA control systems and plenum fans with standard frequency converters.
Elaborating on these systems, the spokesman says: "VTS Clima offers a new technological solution that enables recovery of used energy. This can be achieved by heat wheels and plate exchangers which have proved to bring significant savings - up to 25 per cent even at the initial stage of the investment.
"The PDA control system, an online system navigation tool, is easy to use as it is operated on the Windows CE system and has large display option. It can be compared to a remote control, as it enables the user to control (navigate) many AHUs simultaneously from one location due to the internal monitoring system. Featuring the working calendar option, it also offers quick diagnostics as the system's performance history is recorded in a database. Additional technical documentation is available as an electronic file.
"The plenum fans - which have a low noise level as a result of low speed - can be further controlled with frequency converters. This enables end-users to program different levels of air supply during the day/week, thus eliminating expensive two/three-stage motors while saving running costs due to the optimum power consumption by the fan. The frequency converter also enables the end-user to regulate the air volume and keep it constant despite the condition (clean or dirty) of the air filters."
"Given the rising cost of energy and the demand for high-tech solutions to meet the growing comfort and quality requirements of the Gulf market, VTS Clima's new solutions will undoubtedly meet with good response," he comments.
Besides manufacturing AHUs, VTS Clima offers technical consulting and factory- or on-site assembling services. It also provides service and post warranties that include seasonal maintenance works. Its field service can be comprehensive to include full assembly of units or just start-up, providing the customer with the assurance that all the required air parameters have been successfully carried out.
These services are provided through 47 branches by highly professional and skilled representatives in Europe, Asia and Middle East who are ready to help in providing a solution to a problem.
Based on its performance last year, the company expects to produce 19,500 air handling units this year.
"Despite the global economic slowdown, VTS Clima has achieved a 20 per cent growth in sales and production figures over the past 14 years," says the spokesman. "Given the rapid growth of the Asian and Middle East markets, the company anticipates to see its production levels increase by 25 per cent next year (despite the European market recession)."
VTS Clima has completed a wide range of large and prestigious projects around the world including mega shopping malls, major motor showrooms, airports and government offices and recreation and entertainment projects.
The company is currently involved in a variety of projects ranging from luxurious villas, through university facilities, municipal buildings, shopping malls, recreation centres, hotels up to banks and other industrial real estate constructions.
In the region, VTS Clima is currently busy on a large number of projects, which are due to be completed this year. These include the Green Community garden apartments, Buhaleeba building, the Police General Headquarters, Creekside apartment building, Al Fattan Tower and Marina Heights in Dubai and the College of Technology in Qatar.