Go with the flow InterApp

GO WITH THE FLOW

Technologically-advanced project management company InterApp AG sets high standards with its proprietary valve and fluid technology. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to head of global sales and projects Tom Niessen to find out how the company is utilising its excellent global growth potential.

Famous for its ‘Fluids under control’ slogan, flow control systems expert InterApp AG develops, manufactures and implements state-of-the-art projects for customers worldwide. With its headquarters in Rotkreuz, Switzerland, the 40-year-old company has steadily built up its reputation for customer-focused technology and project management.

InterApp AG has its own dedicated research and development, manufacturing, assembly and testing facilities in both Switzerland and Spain, with additional subsidiaries in Austria, Italy, Spain and Singapore. These wide spread facilities allow it to provide technical flow solutions to customers anywhere in the world, particularly as it has been part of the global AVK Group since 2010.

Being customer-focused is described by head of global sales and projects Tom Niessen as a ‘brand cornerstone’. He told Industry Europe how understanding customer requirements is where every project starts. He said, “It is imperative that we listen carefully to our customers’ needs in order to develop a technologically-driven solution that meets their approval. It’s about behaviour, know-how and technology all working together. We have a very highly skilled team where each and every person is committed to the end goal of delivering a superior solution, so we are always listening carefully.”

Delivering better solutions

Mr Niessen admits that InterApp is ‘not the biggest company in the world – we have just 180 employees worldwide’, but he is also clear that it is able to provide what ‘the large conglomerates don’t’. InterApp’s ability to deliver world class technical back up, with complete control over product quality and process quality, means that it reliably provides a technically innovative solutionsdriven service for flow control systems.

He continued, “We have technical back up of the highest level, which really helps to set us apart from the competition. So we have advantages at all levels – from listening to customers at the very start of a project, to ensuring an innovative approach to the project itself and then completing the project on time and on budget. We pride ourselves on being able to solve our customers’ problems in such a way that their costs don’t increase, or may often even decrease, whilst we are providing a far superior product and service. And then of course the technical back up kicks in and we can maintain that superior solution. It’s a winning combination.”

A recent example of this is a Flue-gas desulphurisation solution provided to a customer that had not actually considered this process as a possibility but, thanks to careful project

management from InterApp, has already seen reduced costs and lowered downtime.

InterApp develops flow solutions for industries including water treatment, power generation, chemical process and life sciences. To facilitate this, it produces industrial butterfly valves as well as valve automation, which allows the valves to be opened and closed remotely, pneumatically, electrically or hydraulically. Delivering solutions to both OEMs and end-user customers, InterApp’s teams are certainly technically minded, but also able to communicate appropriately depending on the requirements of the project.

Knowing what’s needed

Mr Niessen added, “As a rule we avoid overcommunicating electronically. With advanced internal technical support, sales support and whatever else working together to create a superior solution, it can all get pretty complex. We are careful to not to give our customers what they don’t need as it is our job to simplify it as much as possible so that our customers can get on with doing what they do best. We see ourselves as supporting our customers with technology. We make sure we understand their processes and have our engineers on site with the customer locally to provide immediate support.”

While Mr Niessen has only recently joined InterApp, his industry experience spans more than 21 years. He appreciates that he has joined InterApp in order to kick-start a faster growth curve, and as such is passionate about identifying potential opportunities for the company’s innovative flow control systems. InterApp is not currently looking to make acquisitions, as it was an acquisition of the AVK Group itself, so the future is more likely to include InterApp exploiting the potential of its parent group’s worldwide customer base in markets where it is not yet present itself.

Mr Niessen concluded, “The Group has a strong vision for growth and we certainly intend to be a part of it. AVK is diversifying into industrial flow control by acquiring InterApp so we are excited to be in a position where we can be integrated into that process, particularly as AVK is active in some global markets with great opportunities. We have the best of both worlds as we have a large degree of flexibility within the Group but also its support as we continue to grow.” n