Protec’s worldwide unique expertise in high-pressure vessels starts more than 60 years ago in Mungia, a small town located in the Basque Country, in northern Spain. After decades manufacturing plastic, resin, glass fiber and polymer, today Protec is the world leader in high-pressure vessels for desalination while the company seeks new business opportunities in unexplored fields.
At the beginning of the new millennium global industrial flows were changing so fast that Protec resolved to specialize its production in order to face the fierce competition from new markets. The decision was taken: high-pressure vessels would be the new leading product of the company. These high-tech devices consist in pipes designed to protect sophisticated membranes required in water treatment processes and desalination plants. It proved to be an excellent choice. The Basque enterprise worked hand in hand with some of the world’s largest engineering firms in the deployment of desalination plants around the world. This success did not go unnoticed. The Arisawa Manufacturing Corporation – the only ASME certificate holder of the FRP pressure vessel in Japan- acquired Protec in 2010: a new and promising partnership was born, reaching a €21-million turnover record.
Unfortunately, nobody was able to predict that business would nosedive in 2011. The growth of global industrial market and new overseas competitors put the company on the ropes. Once again, the solution came through research, innovation and design. The Basque company worked side by side with a Japanese team to develop an accurate innovation project in order to cut costs down and remain competitive on the worldwide scene. These action guidelines have been Protec’s leitmotiv since then. After an exhaustive study of every detail of the pressure vessels down to the last millimeter and improving each component, it was unanimously agreed that the fabrication process had to be changed altogether: no more machined parts, molding is the future. As a result, Protec is the world leader in high-pressure vessel for desalination applications.
Be Business
In addition to reverse osmosis vessels, pharmaceutical equipment and superconductive material among other cutting-edge products, Protec is now working on its strategy to step into the food and drink industry, as well as into the oil and gas sector and other areas requiring water treatment equipment. Now the company works in an unexplored field: jet bridges or “fingers”, the connector which most commonly extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane.
With leading industrial facilities in USA and Europe, Protec Arisawa is the only pressure vessel manufacturer managing two production centers. A major proof of Protec Arisawa’s reactiveness and flexibility is the absence of standard vessel models. Using the latest technologies enables the construction of complete installations, produced in a smaller, faster and compact scale, raising Protec as a composite expert manufacturer able to provide innovating solutions for most industrial and engineering sectors that require alternative and creative developments with these pieces of equipment. Of course, Protec’s production complies with the worldwide recognized ASME standards. An expert Japanese team carries out weekly improvement tests on products, constantly optimizing their high-quality level, strength, weight and competitiveness. A perfectly coordinated international work group ensures effective lead times reduced to only three weeks from first contact to the delivery date, as well as personalized assistance and problem solving services.
According to sector’s experts, the future of high-pressure vessels lies in Asia and Australia. Nowadays China and India are the largest markets in the region, due to increasing demand for electricity and power generation capacity additions. As the world is Protec Arisawa’s natural market, the company will certainly be up to the task up to the task and is currently taking steps to strengthen the brand’s name in South East Asia and Australia.
