Building on its well-established operations in the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region, Daikin, a global leader in advanced, high-quality air-conditioning, heating, ventilation and refrigeration (HVAC-R) products, is planning to expand its presence in other key countries of the region, a top official of the company said.

“By setting up local offices and affiliates across key countries, we have increased our visibility and presence in the region. This strategy has been a success, with Daikin Saudi and Daikin Egypt established in 2013 and 2016 respectively, and we are currently in the planning stage for expanding even further in other key countries,” Tuna Gulenc, vice president-sales at Daikin MEA, told Gulf Industry.

The company which has established 100 factories and is sold in 150 countries around the world, is also considering opening additional manufacturing facilities in the MEA region.

“In the UAE, Daikin has successfully opened the air handling unit (AHU) factory in 2014. Currently, there are plans to expand our presence across other key countries, which can include new manufacturing facilities,” Gulenc revealed.

Earlier in December 2014, Daikin Middle East & Africa had started the new air handling unit factory in Jebel Ali to serve both local and regional markets from GCC, Middle East & Africa.

The company recently relocated its Middle East and Africa (MEA) Division’s head office to Jafza, in line with plans to support growth and expand throughout the region.

Gulenc: ambitious plans

The new facility is situated on 22,000 sq m of land, with the building and warehouse amounting to 7,500 sq m and it will be the base of operations for 250 staff members across sales and operational departments. It also combines the Daikin Training Academy, AHU Factory and flagship experience centre.

The office also features an array of new technological HVAC innovations including a chiller system, smart VRV system, along with AHU, FCU and BMS systems.

In the last 13 years since Daikin’s first office was established in the emirate, the business has grown from $30 million to exceed $300 million in the MEA region.

Since then the small office has grown to become a full fledge MEA headquarters with sales, service, logistics and manufacturing operations. The business has been expanded by establishing companies in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt while developing an effective and proficient sales network across the MEA region. 

Daikin MEA has since evolved to employ more than 400 people from just 10 originally.

The company believes HVAC-R is a necessity, and governments are now reducing subsidies on electrical energy which means the market is now moving to energy efficient products and companies with technologies are going to lead the trend. “We are preparing markets to work on more energy efficient solutions along with government organizations, developers, consultants and contractors,” he added.

“Everybody associated with Daikin believes in the potential and vision of the region to further grow and develop. In fact, we foresee that there will be a continuous demand for highly efficient products using inverter technology; while the trend for residential projects and replacement (Retrofit) projects are also likely to increase, along with the hospitality and service sectors.

There has been a substantial increase in demand for services in the last several years and this is reflected by our expansion plans from the UAE to KSA and Egypt. Our business growing from $30 million to $300 million, and the number of employees exceeding 400 from 10 initially. Looking ahead, we remain as committed as ever to the region and this is demonstrated through investments that we have made and the establishment of our new facilities,” Gulenc said.

From a global perspective, the company posted around $22 billion in net sales in FY18, which ended March 31st, 2019; with the EMEA region contributing to almost 18 per cent of the total sales.

“In the MEA region, we enjoyed successes and achieved 11 per cent growth despite numerous political and economic challenges. The Americas, China and Japan have contributed significantly to our global sales increase, while the UAE, KSA, Egypt, Ghana and Nigeria have recorded high sales to boost our regional performance,” he added.

Contributing to the growth of the company are some of the prominent projects that used Daikin products in the MEA region over the past two years. Daikin has supplied products and solutions in key projects in the region, such as Expo 2020 pavilions, Museums, villa residential compounds, stadiums, hotels and replacement projects. Among many prized projects, it recently partnered with Etihad Energy Services Company (Etihad Esco) for the replacement of existing chillers with advanced, energy efficient chillers as part of Jafza Package 3 energy retrofit project. The project, which will see Daikin replaces 15 existing chillers with 15 new inverter chillers for 11 Jafza facilities, will result in an annual energy savings of 3,019,679 kWh for Jafza, thereby saving Dh1,343,757 ($365,800) annually.

BEST SELLERS

The company manufactures a full range of HVAC-R products, from the smallest 1-tonne split system to the largest 3000-tonne chiller series, including other solutions like controls, refrigeration systems, refrigerants, compressors and modular chiller plants. “As the leading manufacturer and innovator in the industry of such systems, we are also proud to have successfully introduced the first VRV system and many other first industry innovations, such as VRT & VVR technologies,” Gulenc said.

“We have been spreading VRV technology in the region and are now working on the “Inverterisation” of the entire product range right from splits, till chiller systems and use new green refrigerants like R-32. We have identified that the acceptability for green products is increasing and with government regulations for energy efficiency coming in place, it will further fuel the growth in the market. We strive to continually offer highly efficient products to meet the growing customer needs and expectations,” he added.

In fact, Daikin holds a major market share in VRV and Inverter Split Products in the MEA region. “Our VRV, Inverter Wall Splits, Ducted units and Air-cooled Chillers along with Fan coil units are in great demand because of their offered advantages and the unmatched energy efficiency levels. Daikin is now an emerging player for UAE made AHU’s due to the best quality and lead time,” Gulenc said.

Daikin’s industry leadership can be attributed to the presence of its offered key technologies like inverter splits with patented Swing Compressor on R-32, VRV with VRT Technology (Variable Refrigerant Temperature), AHUs with EC Fan array Technology and our newly Air-cooled Chiller with Inverter + VVR Technology (Variable Volumes Ratio). Our presence in district cooling applications is also felt with the introduction of the 3000 TR WCT Centrifugal Chillers and the Modular Chiller Plants.

Apart from adopting the latest technology, the company is also at the forefront of introducing climate friendly products to ensure the reduction of CO2 emissions to zero in its business activities, products and services.