Don' talk about a revolution with Bitzer engineering manager, Ed Tutty - for him it's all about the Evolution, a new product release designed and manufactured right here in Australia.
Tutty says Bitzer's Evolution condensing unit series is the most flexible and smart unit on the market today.
After only 12 months at Bitzer, he is proud to be part of the local team that developed the Evolution product which was released to the Australian and New Zealand market in September.
The prototype first went on display earlier this year at the ARBS Exhibition in Melbourne. Tutty's role in the Evolution release included supporting the final design and release to production.
“Evolution is a very important release for us there was a lot of research and development on this project,” Tutty says.
“It was an intensive design process, we engaged industry and did customer surveys to address key issues and we are very happy with the end result.
“We knew there were gaps that needed addressing which is exactly what we have done.
“The design improvements have generated a lot of interest in the market.
“By removing a single service panel on the Evolution, everything is easily accessible - this is for better serviceability of the unit,” he says.
“There is also integrated fan speed control, and variable speed compressors are available.
“The Evolution series offers a wide range of solutions, its very versatile.” It is ideally suited to small to medium refrigeration applications.
Tutty has a team of six with a mission to “ensure our designs” are leading the market. “We work on current designs but also have to look ahead. There is a balance between enhancing current product and releasing new designs,” he explains.
“Buffalo Trident/Bitzer is the only refrigeration company still manufacturing heat exchangers in Australia which is our competitive advantage, it means we can do a better job of customising product and do it much faster.”
Prior to joining Bitzer, Tutty spent 18 years in the automotive industry working and living in China, Japan and the United States.
“I moved into the automotive industry straight out of university and really enjoyed it but the last 18 months was tough; as the industry contracted so did the positivity,” he says.
“It was refreshing to move into HVACR it is such a dynamic industry, everyone is very passionate.
“Also automotive projects are often constrained there is limited scope for design whereas refrigeration is much broader, there is more freedom to innovate.”
When asked about the biggest technology changes moving forward, Tutty says for heat exchangers it will be smaller tube diameters.
“Transcritical heat exchangers for Co2 will need to handle higher pressures and there is still the question of stainless steel versus copper,” he says.
Bitzer Australia has undergone a lot of change in the past two years including a restructure. Tutty says the changes were about fine-tuning roles and getting the key technical positions in place to better support customers and industry.
“We want to continually align our operations and projects with the needs of our customers,” he says.