Hannover Messe Interview 2024
What’s the situation that characterizes the transformers market at present and for future years?
The transformers market is experiencing a favorable trend with numerous opportunities emerging. This trajectory is being driven by post-COVID investment across diverse applications, together with the initiative for new electrical infrastructures to facilitate the green transition. The adoption of more sustainable solutions that utilize dry transformer technology is gaining market share and finding applications in innovative sectors.
Additionally, in recent months, there has been a significant stabilization in the trend of raw material costs. Speculative fever that dominated 2021 and 2022 has subsided to more reasonable levels, fostering a more stable environment conducive to long-term project investment.
How TMC is positioned today against this backdrop? Where are TMC investing?
TMC stands as a leading player in the global transformer market, strategically positioning its products across all sectors that utilize dry transformers. Offering a range of technical solutions tailored to various applications, we constantly invest in R&D to explore innovative cooling systems, enhanced protections and advanced materials. Concurrently, significant steps have been made in expanding our production capabilities through the establishment of new facilities, coupled with the acquisition of state-of-the-art machinery. This expansion mirrors the substantial growth trajectory experienced by the TMC group, since its acquisition by H&F in 2017.
What’s the most complex challenge TMC is facing and how will they overcome it?
TMC faces its greatest challenge in managing tailored and special products and in relation to our strong position in this market, numerous customers express interest in collaborating with us.
However, the production of complex solutions for various special projects demands expertise and clear technical comprehension of end-user requirements, from both TMC and our customers as well as robust project management support from TMC. Consequently, to address these demanding customer needs, we have made significant investments in recruiting and training new personnel in engineering, implementing lean processes, automating our working tools, and bolstering project management across all areas.
What’s the most growing sector in Europe? And in USA? And in APAC?
Several applications are experiencing positive trends, largely driven by the need for new electrical infrastructure to support global growth and facilitate the transition towards a more sustainable economy. Significant investments are being made in hydrogen production, battery storage, and e-mobility, alongside the continuous expansion of renewable energy sources.
The data center market is also witnessing development, boosted by the surge in social media usage, the integration of artificial intelligence and the increasing reliance on cloud-based applications.
Additionally, in regions such as North America, the shortage of oil transformers is catalyzing market growth for dry technology in outdoor solutions.
How TMC is proceeding with the path towards the green economy?
TMC's dedication to optimizing production processes for waste and emission reduction (Eg.: through the Zero Carbon Project of Schneider Electric) involves several key objectives in process engineering.
Among these goals is the aim to produce transformers utilizing recyclable or recycled materials. We are currently engaged in defining the Life Cycle Assessment and EPD certification for our transformers, used as green passports to validate our environmental commitment.
Furthermore, our efforts to reduce and recover waste, with 90% of waste materials, including mixed waste, wood packaging, and plastics, being recovered by third-party entities.
Additionally, we are exploring chemical processes to recover the resins utilized in our production processes.
We also work tirelessly to ensure that our partners embrace our code of ethics and adhere to EU directives, ensuring products and solutions comply with regulations while verifying their origins. All of our products adhere to European regulations concerning the restriction of hazardous substances and comply with the European Chemicals Agency's SVHC candidate list.
The future of TMC
TMC remains persistent in its investment strategy aimed at expanding its presence in the low and medium voltage transformers market. Our efforts include the acquisition of new buildings to increase capacity and the investment in state-of-the-art machinery.
Last year, we established a manufacturing facility in the United States and an assembly workshop in Israel, aligning with our objective of localized presence in key markets. Furthermore, we inaugurated an office in Singapore to better serve customers in Southeast Asia.
Looking ahead, TMC's vision encompasses maintaining technological leadership in dry transformer products while ensuring global reach to cater to primary markets beyond Europe. This involves establishing local footholds to offer enhanced customer proximity throughout the design, production, and after-sales service phases.