The Complexity of Wastewater Treatment International Business

Wastewater treatment business is a court where different types of players engage. Dealing with such a complex market is a challenge for any Export Manager of equipment supplying companies. Every single contributor will have different views, goals and technical focuses.

1. The End User

He will operate your equipment for all its lifetime. His goals are to respect treatment targets, to reduce operating costs and to safeguard health and safety. End user operators will interact with the equipment and solve practical problems daily. Energy consumption must be reduced and maintenance operations must be simple, safe, and rarely needed. Equipment lifetime must be as extended as possible. Quick assistance and comprehensive technical documentation from suppliers are essential.

2. The Consulting Engineering Company

Following a request by the End user, he preliminarily designs the Wastewater Treatment Plant defined by a budget cost. The End user issues a tender using the design of the Consulting Engineer as the specification to be respected by all bidding companies. A consulting Engineer always looks for new technical solutions to resolve problems and is focused on technologically advanced and cost-effective solutions.

3. The EPC Contractor

He builds the Wastewater Plant, or part of it, after a tender award within a specified timeframe, respecting the tender specifications and not exceeding the defined budget. His goal is to reduce installations costs as much as possible, so requiring reasonable prices and ease of installation.

4. The Supervising Engineering Company

He checks fulfilment of specifications during the construction of the plant carried out by The EPC Contractor. They approve the equipment being proposed by the Contractor. If any deviation on the specification should be proposed, the Supervising Engineering Company will examine it and approve, if technically motivated.

5. The Distributor

He markets and offers the equipment in a specific country. His goal is to increase its business and its margins, through the installation of equipment in WWTPs, and by establishing relations with all above-mentioned operators. He will distribute reliable equipment with a reasonable, market levelled price, and produced by a company that supports and trains him.

6. Conclusion: the role of an Export Manager in wastewater treatment

The Export Manager of equipment relating to WWTPs must take into account the points of view of all of these operators. Each and every one of them is important and part of a complex mechanism where they all have their role in the process. Thus, the equipment, the company communication and the design criteria must be such that all parties are satisfied, and specific expectations can be met.