HOUGHTON INTERNATIONAL
accelerating march of Industry 4.0 , having worked on it for over a decade , and is applying solutions all the time to enrich the customer experience .
“ Our Houghto-Trend solution is an information database that help our customers monitor how they are consuming their fluids and all maintenance related information ,” says Chung-Fat . “ With this data , which is available to them over the internet , they are able to see how efficient their operations are and can choose where they need to act . With the new EHS regulation in the UK , Houghto-Trend allows to keep the required testing and monitoring history to be fully compliant .”
Houghton is also introducing a device called Greenlight to Europe . Already available in the US , Greenlight is a simple bolt-on product with a green / amber / red lighting system that shows the user whether the fluids being monitored are within the correct concentration levels . This level of effort to improve and simplify life for their customers is another feather in Houghton ’ s cap . “ We ’ re moving our focus away from just product competitiveness and more towards customer solutions ,” explains Chung-Fat . “ We ’ re a speciality process chemicals company , but we understand that our customers are looking for more than just the chemistry part . We ’ ve got experience and expertise on their production and processes , and we ’ re really focused on trying to go much further into offering these broader solutions .”
Creating a powerhouse Houghton ’ s desire to forge strong relationships doesn ’ t stop at customers , but also to long-term rival like Quaker Chemicals , with which Houghton is combining . There are many similarities between the two leaders of the industry , from technical solutions to their focus on customer intimacy . By combining Houghton ’ s and Quaker ’ s diverse technical expertise , the combined business will cover bases that neither has done on its own .
“ For our customers needing fire resistant hydraulic fluids , independent of what type of equipment they
90 September 2017