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Weekly selected highlights in flow control, treatment and combustion from the many McIlvaine publications.

·       Creating a Winning Strategy for the Air, Water and Energy Markets

·       Municipal Wastewater Activities at WEFTEC provide Insights into a New Marketing Approach

·       Advertising Analyses can be used to Determine Competitor Market Shares and Comparative Cost of Ownership

Creating a Winning Strategy for the Air, Water and Energy Markets

Suppliers and purchasers of air, water and energy (AWE) products and services have the same basic questions but with different perspectives. The purchaser must select a process, the products to use in that process, and then choose the best supplier.  Increasingly purchasers are conducting total cost of ownership (TCO) evaluations.

Supplier Questions     vs      End User Questions

The supplier of a high performance product needs to understand the processes and how his product will be used in those processes. He wants to know how big the market is for this product. He wants to know if he has the lowest total cost of ownership product and if so how does he create a winning strategy.  An important aspect is competitor analysis and determination of market shares for the various players.

Publishers and conference organizers have the same questions but with their own perspective. They want to attract readers and attendees with answers to some of these purchaser questions. They need to know competitor market shares to create an advertising or exhibitor sales program.

The McIlvaine Company recognizes the potential benefits to suppliers resulting from detailed forecasts of the purchase opportunity for each product at each prospect.  This opportunity needs to be clarified with a strategy which is specific to each one of the many prospects.  This opportunity is tied directly to Lowest Total Cost of Ownership Validation (LTCOV).  Determining the TCO for the product is only the first step.  What is the TCO for each of the competitor products? What competitors initiatives or innovations can impact the SWOT analysis?

Validation is more than just a white paper which lays out the basis for the LTCO.  Validation includes convincing the customer that the product is the best.  This entails coordination with publishers, conference organizers, and associations.

There is now the opportunity to make market research and associated technical analysis the foundation of business strategy rather than a peripheral tool.  Sales leads are used because the supplier does not understand the customer needs.  If the supplier has detailed forecasts of the opportunity with each purchaser, understanding of the purchaser needs, the products to best serve those needs, and the optimum program with the publishers, and conference organizers he will have a winning strategy.

The McIlvaine program includes forecasting each AWE product or service opportunity for many thousands of individual prospects.  This includes relevant product segmentation. This can include differentiating between PFA lined ball valves for corrosive but not abrasive service and urethane lined ball valves for corrosive and abrasive service. Relative to calcium based scrubbers for power plants the choice could be between  the 50,000 gpm centrifugal pumps needed for limestone scrubbers vs the smaller pumps used if lime is the reagent vs PC pumps needed if there is natural oxidation and calcium sulfite slurries need to be transported.

Future as well as present market shares of competitors are needed.  The future share is in part based on product improvements.  It is also shaped by the sales activity.  The McIlvaine Company can compare competitor advertising and exhibition expenditures by region and industry as well as product.  This indicates the effort which the competitor is undertaking to capture market share or to hold it.

Publications, conferences and exhibitions are where revelations of new developments are likely and where the LTCOV can be established.  This means inclusion of the most relevant material. Those suppliers who are confident that they have the LTCO will have every reason to make it financially attractive to the media to provide actionable analyses.

Purchasers, suppliers, publishers, conference organizers and market research organizations can be working in concert for outcomes which lower the cost of clean air, water and energy.  The WEFTEC conference and exhibition has been used as a template for a way forward  Municipal Wastewater Services

The McIlvaine program uses market reports as the foundation for business programs.

These reports are described at http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/markets

The business program is outlined at www.mcilvainecompany.com

Bob McIlvaine can answer your questions at 847-784-0012 ext. 122 email rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.om

Municipal Wastewater Activities at WEFTEC provide Insights into a New Marketing Approach

If the supplier utilizes the media, exhibitions, and conferences to understand the customer needs, create the lowest total cost ownership solutions and then validate them he will have a more cost effective program than one built on sales leads. Following sales leads is classified as a “push” marketing strategy whereas one built on the lowest total cost of ownership “pulls” in customers. The media can provide the access to customers and the forum to validate the lowest total cost of ownership. 

The most effective route to this “pull” program involves organized utilization of resources which are scattered among thousands of conferences, exhibitions, and publications. Insights into the most effective route are provided for the municipal wastewater market for air, water, and energy products. This analysis is found at Municipal Wastewater Services

The analysis is being continually updated prior to and after WEFTEC. Here are some excerpts from additions in the last few days.

·       Over 200 of Paques’ THIOPAQ^® scrubbers have been installed for biogas and landfill gas treatment for hydrogen sulfide loads from approx. 100 up to 40,000 lbs/d.

·       Asahi will be featuring the latest innovation in butterfly valves: the Type-57P; and the compact and powerful Series 17 electric actuator.

·       As well as delivering clog-free pumping, Xylem’s Flygt Concertor, a state-of-the-art pumping system with integrated intelligence, significantly reduced energy consumption at a wastewater pumping station.

·       Weir WEMCO Torque-Flow recessed impeller grit pumps, WEMCO Screw-Flow screw centrifugal solids handling pumps, and the WEMCO Hydrogritter for grit removal and dewatering applications will be featured. 

·       The Egger Iris valve substantially reduces energy costs in aeration blower systems.

·       A number of case study links have been added to the “APG Neuros aeration blower summary.

·       Hach Wims process data is automatically (or manually) stored into a central, secure database for easy monitoring, analysis, reporting and predictive modeling. Data can be accessed locally or via a secured web interface, ensuring audit trails and historical records are safe and available for easy viewing.

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Advertising Analyses can be used to Determine Competitor Market Shares and Comparative Cost of Ownership

The “Pull” rather than “Push” marketing program relies on validating that a product has the lowest total cost of ownership. It is therefore necessary to evaluate the competitor products. This should include each product and each application.  Why is one competitor dominating the market with a certain product in a specific application in a specific region? What are the product features which the competitor believes sets him apart?

This is a daunting task. However, evaluation of advertising and exhibition activity is a good way to cost effectively acquire lots of insights.  Here are two examples.

There are industry related conferences and publications and there are those focused on products or processes.  Hydrocarbon Processing and Chemical Engineering are two industry focused publications which have international readership. Hydrocarbon Processing has advertisements covering seven of the subjects in McIlvaine Market Reports there are four advertisements relating to N008 Scrubber/Adsorber/Biofilter World Markets , one relating to  N020 RO, UF, MF World Market and eight advertisements related to N031 Industrial IOT and Remote O&M.  Full pages relating to automation such as the Yokogawa advertisement are not exceptional but full page advertisements on gas analyzers to measure moisture and for level control are significant given the sizes of these narrower market  segments in the oil, gas and refining industry. Two advertisements cover subjects in the McIlvaine N006 Liquid Filtration and Media World Markets which includes automatic backwash filters.

Two advertisements cover flares and thermal oxidizers which are covered in the N007 Thermal Catalytic World Air Pollution Markets.  One advertisement includes dissolved air flotation covered in N005 Sedimentation and Centrifugation World Markets. There is one valve advertisement covered in N028 Industrial Valves: World Market.

Periodic analyses of the advertisements in Hydrocarbon Processing provide insights into oil, gas, refining, and petrochemical markets.  Chemical Engineering includes petrochemicals as part of the broader coverage of the chemical industry. The September issue has advertisements on eight different subjects including three subjects not covered in the Hydrocarbon Processing issue.

They are N029 Ultrapure Water: World Market, N021 World Fabric Filter and Element Market, and N027 FGD Market and Strategies. 

However, the Ekato mixer article is not specifically focused on the FGD application.

Advertising is used not only to pull in prospects but to highlight the merits of a particular product. This sets the stage for total cost of ownership comparative analysis.

The McIlvaine Company is providing some competitor analysis in the market reports. However, they should be used as the foundation of more extensive competitor analysis and in preparation of a Lowest Total Cost of Ownership Validation. 

For more information on this program talk to Bob McIlvaine at 847-784-0012 ext. 122 or email him at rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com