Alfa Laval is opening a state-of-the-art Application & Innovation Centre in Kolding, Denmark. The center will reinforce the company’s technology leadership within hygienic fluid handling and put Alfa Laval squarely at the forefront of customer engagement, product innovation and optimization of customers’ processes.

Investing in the new 1,600-square-metre Application & Innovation Centre supports Alfa Laval’s strategic focus of accelerating product innovation and driving customer preference for Alfa Laval pumps, valves, and cleaning and mixing equipment used in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

“It’s all about taking our customers’ production to the next level,” says Mikkel Nordkvist, vice president, hygienic fluid handling, head of industry management. “Customers can see—either in person or by live link—how Alfa Laval equipment performs under their actual operating conditions. Conducting trials with Alfa Laval industry experts provides verification of higher yield, improved hygiene, and sustainable cost reductions by saving energy, water and cleaning media. It’s a golden opportunity to validate overall performance.”

“The center provides a unique environment to develop tomorrow’s fluid handling technologies and equipment. Multiple testbeds with advanced hardware and software enable us to drive innovation by conducting rigorous proof-of-concept experiments on new equipment for the food and pharma industries at many duty points under close-to-actual conditions,” says Rikke Kau Breinholt, vice president, hygienic fluid handling, and Head of Research & Development, Alfa Laval. “Moreover, with insights from customer trials, we can further refine our equipment and are able to introduce new customer-centric products and product enhancements to the market faster than before. Accelerating product development and innovation, in turn, means that we can deliver more value to our customers.”