Parker Domnick Hunter, a division of Parker Hannifin, has won the Queen's Award for Enterprise 2010 in the International Trade category. The Queen's Award recognises Parker Domnick Hunter's success in developing new export markets for its ranges of gas separation technologies, including the MAXIGAS nitrogen generation systems. These are used in, for example, a industrial, food and beverage processing, modified atmosphere packaging, chemical blanketing, laser cutting, and oil and gas applications.
Parker Domnick Hunter's General Manager, Derek Turnbull, states: "We are delighted to win the Queen's Award for Enterprise, which recognises not only our achievements as a business but, most importantly, the exceptional efforts made by our staff at our headquarters in Gateshead, as well as those in our global sales and support network."
This is the ninth Queen's Award that Parker Domnick Hunter has won, it is second for International Trade; the others being three awards for Technology and Innovation and four for Export achievement.
Turnbull adds: "Our latest success in the Queen's Awards is perhaps our greatest to date, as it pays testament to the strength of our technical and business development capabilities, while recognising our long-term global export strategy and ongoing commitment to manufacturing in the UK."
Key to this success has been the development of the MAXIGAS range of gas separation technologies. In particular, the compact, modular and self-contained MAXIGAS system is said to represent a considerable advance in industrial-scale nitrogen generation, providing businesses with a cost-effective and practical method of generating nitrogen on site from a conventional supply of compressed air. By providing a high-performance and energy-efficient system that produces nitrogen on-demand, MAXIGAS eliminates the need for traditional gas bottles and bulk storage facilities, which are costly, present health and safety issues and typically involve large numbers of freight movements.
Turnbull continues: "The MAXIGAS series represented a real breakthrough. It was the first gas generation system that was able to deliver a reliable supply of nitrogen at a guaranteed, consistent purity, while offering significant improvements in energy efficiency. In addition, the modular design allows for ease of transportation, installation and servicing by comparison with existing supply options, while the user-friendly systems can easily be expanded at a later date if the demand for nitrogen increases."
MAXIGAS technology is now widely accepted by key growth sectors within the industrial gas marketplace, where users demand high-specification nitrogen at a significantly lower cost than alternative supplies. Geographically, this includes all European Union countries, Asia, Russia, the Middle East, the Americas, Turkey and India.
Turnbull concludes: "The MAXIGAS technology represents real long-term potential for Parker Domnick Hunter in many key growth markets globally, giving us opportunities to develop solutions that offer our customers real improvements in productivity and profitability. It is this ability to develop technologies that add value to our customers, when combined with our market development, support skills and resources, and the dynamism and innovation synonymous with the Parker Hannifin brand, that has now been recognised by the Queen's Award for Enterprise".