How Fujitsu General Air Conditioning is still finding new ways to innovate
Having been in operation globally since 1936 and in the UK for over 40 years, Fujitsu General (Fujitsu) is a well-recognised name in the industry. COO, Deane Flint outlines how the company established itself in the UK market. “Our route to market is predominantly through distributors. We partner with distribution or wholesaling companies, and that’s been the approach for many years. Ten to 15 years ago there was a partnership with one of our large European distributors, involving a direct-to-market strategy with the manufacturer selling direct to the installer. While that continues to this day, it is the minority of what we do, accounting for around 20 per cent of our business, with the remaining 80 per cent coming through distribution. On top of this, our distributors are often working directly with the installation specialists.”
As with all well established and mature businesses, there have been some significant challenges along the way. Deane highlights how the company overcame them and continues to build on that success. “Around 15 years ago the business was temporarily loss making. In recent times the previous COO turned things around and we’re a profitable business again. Thanks to that turnaround the business has grown significantly in the last five years, which is a great place to be. The goal is now to see what additional growth we can create for the business.”
Significant opportunties
Having been in the industry since 1981 Deane is well placed to help guide the business towards continued growth. He highlights some key moments in his career that have brought him to where he is today: “I began as an apprentice, working as a heating, ventilation and air conditioning draftsman, sitting at a desk and drawing up plans of buildings with their heating, cooling and ventilation systems. I then trained in mechanical and electrical engineering, and in 1989, I moved into sales and eventually began looking after operations in the Northwest of England for Mitsubishi Electric. This became nationwide when I looked after the entire branch with its seven divisions. I subsequently had a similar role for a Chinese manufacturer but covering most of Europe. I learned a lot about the different ways European territories go about finding solutions to their heating or cooling challenges.”
Six months ago, Deane joined Fujitsu and has been “pleasantly surprised” by what he has found at the company. “I knew Fujitsu was a very strong brand, I didn’t realise though, quite how strong its market penetration was. This provides us with a brilliant foundation to build from. We have a couple of small gaps in the product portfolio as well as in market share in a couple of sectors. These represent significant opportunities for us, providing one of the ways we will grow the business on behalf of Fujitsu.”
The company is already capitalising on some of these opportunities thanks to exciting product innovations that competitors currently can’t offer. Deane goes on to give an overview of the products and their capabilities. “We have products which can perform at very low external temperatures. People often think about cooling when they see the Fujitsu General Air Conditioning name but a unit that is selected for cooling is also capable of heating. The majority of what we provide is heat. In Northern Europe the heating season is much longer than the cooling season and external temperatures can get extremely low, so offering a product that very efficiently provides heat even with extreme external temperatures is crucial to the end user.” 
Meeting customer needs
Working with supply partners, the business’ approach remains centred around the ultimate customer and end-users. Deane explains how this approach is deployed and what benefits it brings to the business. “We like to get involved in projects from the earliest point possible, often in the planning stages because the earlier that you are involved, the more you will understand about the application. As long as you follow the trail of bread crumbs properly you will understand the changes that may happen in the journey of a project and by definition you can then understand how you might need to adapt your proposal. The benefit to us as an organisation is the earlier you’re involved, the more people you know in the process and the closer you can be to them. Then when it goes to tender, you can make sure that the right people have got all the relevant proposals and information they require. Some people just wait for something to come to tender or for an order to be placed but that’s not a great approach. As long as the value of your proposition is understood throughout the supply chain then the more airtime you will get regardless of the stage of project.
“It also greatly benefits the client and end user. If you are involved from early in the planning stages, then you should be able to work with the costing team to meet the client’s requirements. Unfortunately, quite often in the construction industry client’s requirements can get slowly eroded over the course of a project. The earlier someone is involved in a project, the easier it is to avoid this happening. Trying to mitigate costs is one thing but when you start re-engineering the client’s requirements to achieve a cost, that’s not a great place to be in my opinion.”
Through a client centred approach, innovative product evolution, and by seeking out underexploited areas of the market, Fujitsu is looking to continue building on its strong growth phase over the coming years.