Recently, the first ALT (formerly ACD) high- and low-temperature expander unit (DTC-6000), produced through the cooperation between Domex-E and Air Liquide Hangzhou, completed skid assembly at the Domex-E plant and was shipped to the customer's site.
Efficient talks lead to a win-win partnership
Domex-E and Air Liquide Hangzhou first met in early 2022 to discuss cooperation on the ALT expander business. Building on the high level of trust from previous cooperation and a shared aim of mutual success, the two sides quickly reached an agreement after efficient negotiations and signed a cooperation agreement.
Repeated discussion and optimization win the order
The Zhongke Fuhai–Yangzhou Gaoyou project is an air separation project in Gaoyou, Jiangsu, jointly invested by Zhongke Fuhai and Yangzhou Zhonghuan. In the early stage, Domex-E's proposal and quotation department kept in frequent contact with Air Liquide Hangzhou and quickly mastered the expander technical solution. Yin Hongbing, head of the sales department, and Tong Jinhui, deputy head of the proposal and quotation department, worked with Air Liquide to discuss the solution with the user several times, updating and optimizing it according to the customer's actual needs. Their persistent efforts won the user's trust, and the order was secured in May 2022.
Pulling together to overcome difficulties and complete assembly
Domex-E has worked in the turbomachinery industry for more than ten years and has rich experience in packaging compressors. For its first ALT expander skid, Domex-E faced the challenges and unknowns head-on. Project manager Zhao Bo led the team to start from the technical requirements and study the OEM design documents, from each bought-in part to the overall skid design, until they had fully mastered ALT's technical specifications. Throughout, Air Liquide Hangzhou and ALT USA gave strong support, and email after email and meeting after meeting gradually cleared up the technical puzzles. Zhao Bo is especially grateful to Li Haijin, project manager at Air Liquide Hangzhou, who repeatedly joined 7 a.m. calls with the US to bridge the time difference and kept the project moving.
On this project Domex-E strictly followed ALT's qualified-supplier requirements. With many US-brand components, developing and auditing suppliers became a major task. Fan Pingping, deputy head of the purchasing department, volunteered as the project's purchasing manager and developed suppliers quickly and rigorously through multiple channels, bringing every component in line with ALT standards.
Affected by the international situation over the past year, delivery of the main unit from ALT's US plant was at risk of delay. Domex-E project manager Zhao Bo and Air Liquide project manager Li Haijin responded immediately, holding meetings with the US in the early hours to confirm progress and then meeting with the US every day for two weeks until production returned to normal. This proactive attitude and spirit of cooperation provided the most reliable guarantee of on-time delivery.
Before the imported expander core arrived at the Domex-E plant, the assembly team and the quality inspection department had organized several training sessions to study the packaging documents. During assembly, drawing on rich experience in compressor packaging, they overcame difficulties and refined their methods, completing the skid assembly of the first high- and low-temperature expander within a month.
The project team's proactive thinking and action fully demonstrated Domex-E's capabilities in engineering design and project management. The Air Liquide Hangzhou team's strong sense of responsibility and team spirit were also indispensable throughout the project. As Domex-E has always said, "virtue is never alone; you are always with us": every project needs the customer's trust and the full support of its partners.
Air Liquide Hangzhou is an important customer of Domex-E's compressor business. Through cooperation on ALT expanders, the two companies have become partners at a deeper level. The delivery of this project is a good start to Domex-E and Air Liquide Hangzhou's cooperation on ALT expanders, and with the two companies working closely together, the future looks promising!
Text and photos: Tong Jinhui, Zhao Bo
Video: Wen Yu
First published in Chinese on the Domex-E WeChat official account. Read the original