Company Profile

ABB Fläkt Oy Industrial Fans

Business idea and operational objectives
Under the trade mark Exvel, ABB Fläkt Oy Industrial Fans develops, manufactures and markets industrial fans for various processes within, for example, power stations, the food industry, and the pulp and paper industry. The products are used for various applications, principally in drying of foodstuffs, chemical substances and pulp Liquor, where so called MVR evaporators (Mechanical Vapour Recompression) are utilized, but also in waste-water purification and in desalination plants. The company has been granted ISO 9001 quality certification by Det Norske Veritas.

History and general facts
Since the early 1990s, the Industrial Fans division has been part of ABB Fläkt Oy. The division assumes global business responsibility for turbo blowers within the ABB Group and is a "Centre of Excellence". The parent company's head office is located in Turku, Finland. In 1995, ABB Fläkt Oy generated net sales of FIM 355 million and employed more than 500 persons. For the same period, net sales of the whole ABB Group in Finland amounted to FIM 7,139 million. The Group employed 8,975 persons.

Production and product range
Development work and production is carried out at the ABB Group's production unit in Helsinki, Finland. Exvel fans are tailor-made for specific applications and delivered ready for installation. Most are sold and tested by using the Group's own squirrel-cage motors and frequency converters. There is also a range of standard design fans available. General areas of application include MVR evaporators in the food, paper, metal, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries. Other growing areas of application are in power generation, waste-water purification and water desalination. In the food sector for example, high-pressure fans are used in the production of dry milk and other dairy products. They are also used for drying animal feed, sugar, fruit, fish, and for processes in distilleries.

Organisation and markets
ABB Fläkt Industrial Fans is one of eleven ABB companies which have been appointed Centres of Excellence within the Group's world-wide business area called Air Handling Equipment. The honour is accorded as a result of investments in staff competence, the latest production equipment, and research and development in close co-operation with universities and research institutions.
The business area as a whole comprises some 40 production units. Industrial Fans operates ten factories in eight countries. The decentralised matrix organisation of the ABB Group provides the Turbo Fans' division with an extensive global distribution and service network.
Finland's domestic market generates more than 50 per cent of the division's net sales. The main export markets are Scandinavia, the USA, France, the Netherlands, Germany, England, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Contacts
Head office:
ABB Fläkt Oy Industrial Fans
Profit Centre Manager: Kai Suominen
Export Manager: Göran Tallberg
P.O. Box 25, FIN-00381 Helsinki
Tel: +358 10 22 23461 Fax: +358 10 22 23480
(from March 1, 1997: P.O. Box 5, FIN-02621 Espoo)