In the high-stakes, high-cost, high-pressure maritime industry, Dutch butterfly valve specialist manufacturer Wouter Witzel has defined its leading position in the market with a combination of incomparably high-quality products, flexibility and comprehensive customer support. Marine Sales Manager Justin Bijenhof spoke with Richard Hagan.
Serving customers ranging from ship owners to dredging firms and naval forces, Wouter Witzel has a broad range of products and expertise capable of providing robust solutions to any pipeline engineering challenges. Supplying customers both inland and offshore, Wouter Witzel offers a complete butterfly valve service, including engineering of bespoke solutions, post-sales servicing and comprehensive technical sales support. Its valves are especially well-known for their vulcanised rubber lining, which is
guaranteed not to detach regardless of the application for which the valve is destined. The company’s team of engineering experts works alongside ship owners from the beginning of construction in the shipyard, through to support for the product many years after the ship has hit the water.
Comprehensive sales & support
At the start of any new project, Wouter Witzel’s team begins with identifying key information required to understand the customer’s needs, according to Marine
Sales Manager Justin Bijenhof: “We will find out what the valve’s application is, as well as what speed or velocity the medium is, what temperature the medium is, and how fast the valve should actuate We’ll also identify the available power supply and establish whether the valve is hydraulic or pneumatic.
“Based on that information, we’ll build a big picture of what the customer needs and from there, we’ll go back and find the best matching product for their application.”
If Wouter Witzel’s teams cannot find a precise match from amongst its product catalogue for the customer’s needs, the company will gladly make
any required changes to existing products to make them relevant to the customer’s project. And every valve that Wouter Witzel supplies is backed by its venerated after-sales service, including replacement parts suppor t.
The naval market lights up
Amidst the geopolitical turmoil in Europe, there has been a renewed emphasis on defence spending throughout not only that region, but elsewhere in the world too. This comes on the back of Wouter Witzel’s own long-term product development
e fforts within the naval market – including new products, changes, testing and
approvals processing – which is now paying dividends for the company as the world’s navies seek bespoke solutions from Wouter Witzel.
“At least half of our turnover comes from the maritime industry, and based on that we can see that the market is indeed evolving, and a lot is happening in Europe,” said Mr Bijenhof. “The war has resulted in demand for our products being fast-tracked within the maritime business and we’re enjoying strong growth in that sector.
“Our leading position within the naval sector especially, meant that we were able to anticipate that positive shift in time for us to serve it comprehensively, but it’s also made our partnerships throughout Europe more and more important.
Naturally, we always try to ensure that we’re ready for whatever big step is coming next and therefore we are continuing to design new products.”
European demand comes home Wouter Witzel’s production and sales activities are centralised in The Netherlands. Externally, it has agents all over the world serving countries ranging from China to the US and Spain.
Notwithstanding its global reach, Wouter Witzel is positioned within the market as a flexible Dutch manufacturer offering highly respected, top-notch European quality, backed by strong pre-sales technical support and robust after-sales customer service. At a time when so many firms are bringing their manufacturing needs back
to Europe, Wouter Witzel has found its solid reputation delivering increased enquiries from companies across Europe.
“European companies have found that doing business with us and within Europe is much easier thanks to the shared culture, our special expertise and the close proximity of our manufacturing,” Mr Bijenhof revealed. “Therefore, we’re seeing a process developing in which a new level of specialisation is requested from Europe, rather than from traditional markets in the East.
“Customers are seeking solutions to challenges that fit better within the ambit of European producers. We’re seeing
more and more enquiries from both owners and governments with specific requirements and specific challenges for which they wish to collaborate with us to find creative solutions.
“It means that our product is no longer seen as a commodity, but rather that there is a priority placed on our size, our capabilities and the value of our service as well as our ability to take ownership of the client’s challenges. That’s simply not something that can be achieved with a company on the other side of the world. So, as a Dutch manufacturer, it’s an area in which we can bring incredibly good added value for the customer.”
Innovation and expansion
Wouter Witzel is excited to announce the launch of a brand-new range of valves. The new EV valves, which include the EV-Alu and the EV-F&B, are designed for heavy-duty applications whilst offering low energy consumption.
The EV-Alu is a lightweight valve solution manufactured from aluminium, while the EV-F&B is designed for food and beverage industry applications. Both valves are designed to be drop-in replacements for existing valves. “Customers don’t need to replace or remove anything surrounding the valve,” Mr Bijenhof said.
T he EV range offers lower torque with a higher KVA value and is easy to install, and it is offered at the same price as similar valves.
This and other innovations come as a result of Wouter Witzel’s ongoing investments in its production capacity. These investments have seen the company increase its capacity from 200,000 units per year to 250,000 and still growing. “Ongoing upgrades to our planning tools and ERP system will see our capacity continue to rise,” Mr Bijenhof concluded.
Wouter Witzel participates in a number of important marine industry exhibitions, with particular highlights being the Europort Expo in Rotterdam in November of this year, and SMM Hamburg, with the next one taking place in September 2024.
You are invited to meet Wouter Witzel’s sales team at these prestigious events to learn all about how they can assist you with your engineering challenges. n
