Hempel’s accomplishments in the wind turbine protective coatings market have won the company the 2011 Frost & Sullivan Product Line Strategy Award.
Business research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan’s Best Practices Awards recognise outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development. Hempel caught the attention of Frost & Sullivan for its work developing versatile products with unmatched functionality for the wind turbine protective coatings market.
So what’s the key to Hempel’s winning performance? Gaurav Vyas, Research Analyst at Frost & Sullivan, explains: “Hempel’s strong foothold in the wind turbine protective coatings market is a result of the customer-centric strategy that it has followed over the years. The wind turbine coating product lines are perfect examples of its product line strategy in action and how it has consolidated its position in the marketplace. Hempel’s ability for customisation and onsite technical support represent the critical success factors for increasing and maintaining its market share in the wind turbine coatings market.”
Customer-centric approach
To benchmark Hempel’s performance against competitors, Frost & Sullivan analysed the breadth of product line, the size of the addressable customer base, the impact on market share, the range of applications and the markets served. Hempel trumped its competitors in every category.
Anders Voldgaard Clausen, Group Segment Marketing Manager at Hempel, who’s responsible for the wind segment, explains the company’s approach: “For the wind industry, we address all parts of the wind turbine, though with the majority of our coatings are used on the tower. And we always ask our customers what their needs are so that we can tailor our products accordingly. We’ve developed products that meet low VOC requirements and have faster curing times, which means more efficient production. And we’re currently working on other exciting projects for wind towers.” All this means lower production costs for wind turbine and tower manufacturers.
Strategy shapes success
A key element of its One Hempel – One Ambition strategy, Hempel’s willingness to customise products for the wind industry and offer onsite technical support has helped increase its market share. Anders explains, “Our strategy has helped move us ahead of the competition and into a position where we now have more than 50 per cent of the wind turbine market share.”
Hempel’s product portfolio for wind turbines consists of products based on epoxy, polyurethane, zinc silicate and polyaspartic, as well as a range of waterborne anti-corrosive products. Besides adhering to industry standards, Hempel’s protective coatings are durable, provide ultra-violet (UV) stability, and are abrasion-resistant.
