Recently, the 2023 Lubrizol Innovation Trend Summit was held in Fuzhou. At this summit, the relevant person in charge of Lubrizol stated that they will continue to increase investment to strengthen China’s status as a manufacturing and supply hub in the Asia-Pacific region, and plan to build China into a future technology hub; at the same time, they will vigorously promote localization and cultivate local Talent, empower local teams, listen to customer needs at any time, and provide customized solutions in a timely manner.
Sustainable and more agile
"Lubrizol has a history of 95 years since its establishment. Ever since Ford launched Model-T, Lubrizol has provided lubrication technology for automobiles." Flavio, Lubrizol's senior vice president and president of additives business Kliger said that Lubrizol’s purpose is to provide innovative solutions for sustainable development, promote the development of the transportation industry, enhance people’s livelihood and well-being, and improve the quality of life through superior technology. Today, Lubrizol has more than 8,000 employees and has more than 50 production bases, 29 R&D laboratories, and 48 sales and technical offices around the world. It serves customers in more than 100 countries and regions, and its business scope covers additives (LZA ) and advanced materials (LZAM), whose products are widely used in the fields of transportation, home furnishing, daily chemicals, consumer and engineering polymers.
According to reports, Lubrizol mainly helps customers customize the products and services they need through advanced solutions, while helping them cope with technical challenges. "Although we are 95 years old, we still consider ourselves a young company. We have always maintained agility and quick action, listening better to our customers, understanding the needs of the local market, and meeting local needs better and more agilely. market demand." Flavio Kliger proudly said, "We will use our deep expertise in the market to translate innovation into real technical needs, provide reliable performance, and shape new markets. This has been the secret of our success over the past 95 years and will continue to do so." Be the secret to success for the next 95 years.”
In China For China
Lubrizol has started its business in China since the 1990s and has continued to invest in the Chinese market for more than 30 years. "China is Lubrizol's most important growth region and represents many opportunities for Lubrizol's business and its service industries. China is important both because it is a growing consumer market and because it is the company's global production, supply, technology and an important component of R&D." Flavio Kliger said, "The first keyword of the company's future China strategy is growth. China is the fastest growing market in the world, so we need to continuously invest in China and optimize resource allocation. The second keyword is localization. Cultivate local talents, develop local technologies and empower local teams.”
At present, Lubrizol has established 3 offices, 2 production bases, 4 technical centers and laboratories in China, and the total number of employees in China has reached more than 600. Among them, Lubrizol's Shanghai base produces high-performance polymers for use in fields such as wearable technology, automobiles, construction and beauty. It will celebrate its 20th anniversary of operation next year; Lubrizol's world-class lubricant additives factory in Zhuhai responds to customer needs High performance lubricants for a variety of needs, celebrated its 10th anniversary in business last September. Paul, Senior Director, Asia Pacific, Lubrizol Additives Business Nai said that on the existing basis, Lubrizol will continue to adhere to the concept of "in China, for China" and continue to invest and grow.
Paul Nai said that when Lubrizol first entered the Chinese market, from a technical perspective, China was in a follower position. But now, China is beginning to take a leading position in many areas, and electric vehicles are a typical example. Therefore, Lubrizol has established a center of excellence for future transportation in China to respond to the needs of the new energy vehicle market. Conducting research and development in China while also supporting customers in other markets around the world allows the company to find solutions more intelligently and allows the company's technology to better meet market needs.
"We have been working hand in hand with our customers for 30 years in China, and we will continue to invest and deepen our efforts in the Chinese market." Flavio Kliger said firmly.
New energy, new future
With the advancement of industrial technology, facing the themes of electrification and mobility as well as the requirements of energy conservation, emission reduction, and energy transformation, whether it is traditional industrial fields such as aerospace, engineering machinery, and automobile manufacturing, or emerging industries such as new energy vehicles and artificial intelligence, The industry has put forward higher and more requirements for lubricating oil additives. Flavio Kliger said that an important opportunity in the future is automation, and Lubrizol will continue to seek better solutions in this area. On the other hand, Lubrizol has more technologies to offer by increasing production capacity and reducing carbon footprint.
Zhu Ping, senior technical director of Lubrizol's additives business in Asia Pacific, said that now, electrification and future mobility are a theme. At the same time, the government's requirements for emission reduction, including the timetable for emission reduction, are also very strict, requiring very new solutions. Currently, the bigger challenge facing the lubricant industry is market fragmentation. In the past, gasoline and diesel were the main fuels, but now alternative fuels, hydrogen fuels, liquefied natural gas, etc. have given consumers more choices. Even the same internal combustion engine may use different fuels, resulting in lubricants that are not compatible with each other.Capacitive solutions are more complex. In addition, in the field of electric vehicles, many traditional lubrication or other technologies can no longer play a role, and new solutions and technologies are needed. Lubrizol is based on more diversified green lubrication formula design, innovative technology, joint development and verification, which can continuously meet the requirements of lubricant performance upgrades.
Zhu Ping emphasized that Lubrizol does not speculate on whether hydrogen energy technology or electric vehicle technology will be the mainstream in the future and blindly invest in any one of them. Instead, it is prepared for all technical routes. In addition, internal combustion engines still occupy a large market share, and various technologies will coexist in the next 10 to 20 years.
Finally, Flavio Kliger said that facing a more challenging future, Lubrizol will continue to invest in team and capability building in China. With the support of logistics improvement, supply security, advanced local testing and innovation capabilities, Lubrizol is confident to maintain its growth momentum. Help customers have greater opportunities to stand out in the competition in Asia's largest lubricant market.