German Technology for Latin American Market

Q: How does Mexico feature in your international business strategy?
A: VULKAN is a 125-year-old German company that specializes in power transmission solutions for marine and industrial applications. Brazil is home to the center of competence for our industrial division. We form an ideal union between experience, quality and German engineering combined with a passion to promote development in Latin America. We have global factories in Germany, China, India, the US and Brazil. We have a long-term vision for the expansion of our market participation in Mexico as one of the main countries in Latin America. In line with the demands of our customers, we will adjust and grow our Mexican subsidiary. Our strong advantage is our over 40 years’ experience and engagement in the South American industrial markets. Many companies in Mexico are our clients in Brazil and other South American countries.
Q: What are the main challenges operators face in terms of mineral processing and how do your products help solve these?
A: We believe that the main challenges globally for mineral processing companies are based on the need to increase the efficiency and profitability of operations to improve the safety of the entire process and to reduce their environmental impact. Our products are technologically cutting-edge and thus guarantee the optimization of operative performance, increase efficiency, bring down lead times and help avoid accidents.
As for the challenge presented by the increasing need to adapt to the digital revolution, we have already started to equip several of our products with digitally readable sensors, which will allow our customers to connect these to their digital networks and receive important performance information over distances. They can also record and analyze this systematically for preventive maintenance.
Q: What added value do you offer to the Mexican mining industry and why should operators choose your products over those of your competitors?
A: We have been extending our full product and service portfolio to the Mexican mining market over the last year, which means we can now supply Mexican mining operators in the same way as we already did over the last few decades in Brazil, Chile, Peru and Colombia. We have proven, state-of-the-art, high quality products and services, which are very competitive in comparison to those that currently dominate the Mexican mining market.
Q: What is an example of a success story that demonstrates the unique benefit you can offer the industry?
A: We recently supplied a Mexican mining operator with a complete brake system including 15 cutting-edge electrohydraulic brakes for installation in five conveyor belts. This substitutes old, inefficient brakes purchased from a competitor and helps our customer to increase the efficiency and the security of its operations. In this case we have designed the system, supplied the brakes, supervised the installation and successfully accompanied the entire initialization process.
Q: How much do you invest in research and development and what new products are you planning to release?
A: We have several development centers within our group, including the global center for the industrial division in Brazil. In Germany, we have a development center that specializes in maritime solutions and several other industrial products. Also, Vulkan Drive Tech has had a good deal of success and deep expertise in the application of couplings, including fluid couplings, break systems and backstops that are especially designed for conveyor systems and other applications in heavy industry installations. We have a highly qualified and motivated service technician team that provides all kinds of customer service support across the Latin American region and that already serves several customers in Mexico.
Q: What are your expansion plans in Mexico in the medium to long term?
A: In Mexico, VULKAN has already launched a subsidiary of its Vulkan Drive Tech division with Sales Offices in Mexico City and Villahermosa dedicated to the mining and heavy industry applications of our products, as well as oil and gas and petrochemicals. The offices additionally receive strong technical engineering support from Brazil and product specialists and service technicians are frequently visiting Mexican clients. VULKAN’s business model in Latin America consists of a small structure supported by a network of distributors and representatives. The company currently has distributors in Monterrey, Puebla and Toluca and is continuously extending its coverage. We are therefore able to offer the Mexican industry access to our wide range of couplings, brake systems and backstops for all kind of industrial applications, including safety solutions.
We expect to grow quickly in Mexico and attain a position similar to that we enjoy in Brazil, thanks to the wide portfolio of products and services that we offer. Our initial expansion plan in Mexico is divided into two phases. First, we are installing our own structure and sales and service partner network, presenting ourselves to potential customers primarily in the mining, cement and steel industries, in addition to oil and gas and petrochemicals sectors across Mexico. In the second phase, we will expand our presence in the Mexican market to all other potential industrial applications and customers. Our plan is to establish ourselves in Mexico in the midterm with a small engineering and technical service center and a local logistics platform to enhance our service for this emerging market. By doing this we will take advantage of our global group structure with distributed engineering and manufacturing centers in Germany, India, China, the US and Brazil and we will supply the Mexican market with products from all these locations.
Regarding the development of the Mexican mining market and its impact on our business, we are convinced that, regardless of the short-term commodity price situation, the global market demand for metals and mining byproducts will continue to grow. For this reason, we are sure that our products and solutions will find increasing interest on the Mexican market as well as in the other Latin America countries in which we have a presence, such as Brazil, Chile, Peru and Colombia.