IN THE HOT SEAT
What challenges are there for Hitachi to overcome? It’s down to what I call the three-point plan. We need to grow specifications and to achieve this goal, we have to provide consultants, design and build and m&e engineers with the right technical information to enable them to design the project. We also need to expand our distribution network and build a strong heating business with our heat pumps.
I think Hitachi is a solid company which is in a strong position to compete effectively in the market, not just from a leadership point of view but also in terms of innovation and wider business strategy.
What is your personal goal?
The marketplace is very competitive with many innovative products, but my burning issue is how we enable the customer to recognise how they can benefit from these innovations, and therefore ‘con tribute’ to the cost of these products by paying slightly more in price. This is a challenge we all need to look at.
If everyone out there tries as hard as possible to market these benefits to the customer, through specifications, until it reaches the end-user and
owners, our industry would benefit better in the long run.
Do you find that onsite value engineering affects your products?
No. However, this is where the education comes in. If the end-user and those who are going to install the product have been trained and taught about some of the technical benefits these products have, then making adjustments either through installations or control system settings on site would provide that flexibility.
Every product has its place, but in some specific areas, educating customers as to the right products which provide benefits and consequences might help the end-user to make an informed choice. I’m thinking of innovations which have taken place in the last six or seven years, but they are not fully accepted in the market.
Take, for instance, R32. Some Installers will not install R32 – this is a new innovation to help the environment, but still there is resistance. The Hitachi R32 products cover the basic range which would provide an environment benefit.
How can we best encourage new people into the industry?
I’ve always believed that to get people interested
in our Industry, we must engage with them at a young age, either in educational or vocational institutions.
To achieve the results required, we should be getting into schools, colleges and vocational centres and making sure the engineering courses in educational Institutions have a broad spread, which provide people with the options and opportunities to make a choice. I started in lighting from the time of my A Levels, and by the time I went to University, I had already built a passion for it. We n eed to try to bring the industry in to the academic structure, for instance through teaching students how certain gases works and giving them a feel of what we do in this industry.
Furthermore, we need people in educational institutions that are prepared to spend time to impart their knowledge to students. That is where manufacturers and product development, as well as design companies, come in – we should be able to fund some of those teaching elements, right down to a basic level.
Sport, team, player?
Now, you won’t believe this - my team is Nottingham Forest and I have supported them since my youth!
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