interview with the president of himoinsa, Francisco Gracia

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President Talks...

With 40 years’ experience in the power generation sector and linked to the Yanmar business group since 2015, HIMOINSA is strengthening its position in the international market.

Francisco Gracia. President & CEO of HIMOINSA. Head of YES´s Global Power Generation Business

The company’s growth strategy is based on the design and development of products. Constant investment in R&D allows it to offer products adapted to each region and application. And it can afford to do so because it has factories and engineering centres in every region.HIMOINSA’s declaration of intent involves enhancing its synergies with Yanmar to the fullest. This is how it consolidates its unification into a whole; HIMOINSA generator sets with Yanmar engines;

a manufacturer of generator sets and a manufacturer of engines, both belonging to the same business group, in a scenario in which HIMOINSA plays a key role in the development of Yanmar Energy System (YES), Yanmar’s global power division.We are engaged in this HIMOINSA, ‘A Yanmar Company’, with new product divisions, a reinforced organisational structure and defined growth plans in the international market.

You were appointed President and CEO of HIMOINSA just a few months ago, and in parallel you have been entrusted with the position of Head of Global Power Generation Business at Yanmar Energy System (YES). How are you settling into your new role?

I embrace this new chapter with great enthusiasm, and I am very grateful to both Yanmar and HIMOINSA for the trust they have placed in me. I have been working for HIMOINSA since 2000 and during this time I have held various positions in the company. We have tremendous industrial capacity and a very valuable human and professional team; two key components that will ensure our growth.

Without a doubt, the most valuable asset of any company comes from those who are part of it, and at HIMOINSA we’re fortunate to have a committed team of professionals with a great deal of experience and a long track record in the power generation sector who add value to each of the links in our business chain. And we’re very proud of that.

HIMOINSA became part of Yanmar in 2015. What has this business agreement meant for both companies?

It undoubtedly represents a plan for exponential growth. HIMOINSA has merged with YANMAR and is now playing a key role in its energy division (YES), where we have overall responsibility for helping Yanmar Energy System to develop internationally.

Of course, we are not a new company, we still are who we were, we offer a Premium product, we have a consolidated distribution network, and we continue to cultivate our proximity to the market... But in addition to all this, we now have new opportunities for growth and new product developments that will allow us to make huge strides in our expansion.

HIMOINSA, ‘A Yanmar Company’, offers a comprehensive solution to the market: generator sets, lighting towers, power storage and distribution systems... products for which, to a large extent, we have chosen Yanmar engines. That is why both companies’ engineering teams are working closely on the development of new equipment.

Any client who purchases a generator set or lighting tower with a Yanmar engine is well aware that the product has been custom designed and conceived. And that is a guarantee of quality and confidence.

«Let’s not forget that Yanmar has a long history in the industrial world. Since its foundation in 1912, it has implemented new business units, positioning itself today as a continuously growing international company with more than 25,000 employees and an annual turnover of 7.5B USD.

It has countless industrial resources and advanced engine technology; without a doubt, valuable attributes and industrial capacity that provide us with solid guarantees to jointly develop an exponential growth plan.»

Does this mean that HIMOINSA is focusing its product portfolio exclusively on Yanmar engines?

Absolutely not, but the trend is to strengthen Yanmar’s presence in an increasingly complete and powerful range. This does not mean that we are going to stop working with other engine manufacturers. Our growth strategy also involves other engine manufacturers with whom we have been working for many years and will continue to do so in the future.

We have factories on different continents that strategically cover the commercial needs of each region and we manufacture products in them that meet the demands and requirements of each market. This means that we can have different engine partners in each region.

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It is a well-known fact that ‘companies live off their product and their service’. To what extent is this aspect key to HIMOINSA’s growth strategy?

As Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company, once said, “Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.” And what is right for us is offering a quality product and service, ensuring that it meets or even exceeds client expectations. And we never stop working on that. We are currently restructuring our products and designing new equipment to complete our portfolio.

And of course, we don’t stop there. Client service and providing the market with tools to facilitate their day-to-day work is also our responsibility. A considerable part of our growth strategy involves digitalisation, which we have been engaged in for several years now. Hence our investment in the development of digital tools that make product information, documentation and new functionalities available to our customers. We believe it is crucial to be able to offer a comprehensive client service.

When you talk about the product, you mention a new structure. Which business units are you referring to?

Business units focusing on three clear product areas: mobile power, stationary power and power plants. These are three different units, each with a very specific product, aimed at a very precise target and managed by a specialised sales team.Our ‘Mobile Power’ is a product intended for temporary applications. Generator sets, lighting towers, power storage and distribution systems..., characterised by their robustness and reliability for continuous operation. Our mobile units are environmentally friendly, and they guarantee simplicity of use and low operating costs.

Unlike these, stationary power involves products for fixed installations, characterised by their reliability and speed of response. This is what’s known as ‘Stationary Power’, equipment designed to provide reliable backup power, capable of communicating with the grid or with other generators in parallel.

In a complementary way, we also offer power solutions that combine different generation and storage technologies; these are special solutions, or those known as ‘Power Solutions’, meaning generator sets mainly above 1MW, designed for critical power supply, data centres, IPP, medium voltage, power plants, etc...

And we always offer the market both diesel and gas solutions, in compliance with existing regulations and immersed as we are in constant R&D work for the development of new equipment. In this context moreover, Yanmar is continuing to develop new power source solution that will enable Himoinsa to expand its product portfolio in powers above 1MW.

“We design a specific product for each region and for each application” Without a doubt, quality products designed with the needs of those who are going to use them in mind, fulfilling the requirements of each application and sector. Hence the strategic positioning of our factories; we have engineering centres in all regions, allowing us to consider all local regulations, and design a quality product in compliance with the regulations and demands of each industry, and of each market.

CORPORATE CATALOGUE

How do you see the international power generation market and what are your expectations for growth?

The market is increasingly demanding and constantly changing due to new emissions regulations that lay down guidelines for equipment manufacturers on which to base the development of new products. This is something that we respect and HIMOINSA is fully committed to developing clean, environmentally friendly equipment. We are convinced that this situation - and the fact that the market is increasingly atomised - will help us to strengthen our international positioning with a ‘best-in-class’ product.

The fastest growing areas for HIMOINSA in the coming years will undoubtedly be the Americas and Asia. This is where we believe we can further increase our market share. Of course, Europe is a very important region for the company; we have achieved a strong customers base and we will continue to work to improve our position even further.

On the other hand, we must continue growing in Africa and the Middle East.

Global Turnover (2020) by geographical area.

'HIMOINSA’s origin is in Spain; shortly afterwards it penetrated Europe and then the company immediately decided to expand internationally. This is how its latest annual turnover is distributed; the figures for 2020 are shown. The goal is to increase our numbers in the Americas and Asia in the coming years.'

You have mentioned your subsidiaries and factories, but what role does the distributor play in HIMOINSA’s business plan?

Our distribution network is key to our growth strategy. We reach the market and the end user through our distributors and we will continue to work in this direction. We work with companies that have been representing our brand for years in countries where our product has positioned itself as a byword for quality.

Our sales team works hard to identify new players in those places where our positioning is not quite so consolidated. There are always new areas to grow in and we are working on them. We want to offer the client an immediate response, technical support, and a quality service, hence our effort to continue strengthening our distribution network in those areas where this is required.

President Talks...

You were appointed President and CEO of HIMOINSA just a few months ago, and in parallel you have been entrusted with the position of Head of Global Power Generation Business at Yanmar Energy System (YES). How are you settling into your new role?

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