Since its inception, Viza Valves has made a series of breakthroughs in the market and forged its way ahead. Established in 1998, the company has continually progressed to meet the needs of its clients. As each of its brands has achieved long-term success, Viza Valves has become recognized for its ability to provide high-quality services for the most demanding tasks.
Valve World Americas had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Cheng Zong, Owner of Viza Valves, to learn about the value of the company’s longevity, and how its core competence is the delivery of complicated orders in an expedited manner. “The more complex the needs are, the more excited we are to provide solutions,” stated Mr. Zong.
By Laura Wang
Guiding Principles
Over the past 20 years, Viza Valves has evolved into a leading valve enterprise in the global market. As a result of decades of experience in the valve industry, it has developed unique product lines, acted as a distributor for its own brands, and been a successful OEM, before expanding its business to focus on major development strategies. With its corporate strength constantly growing, customers continue to turn to Viza Valves for their important valve requirements.
Successfully operating a project-driven business is often seen as a testament to a company’s capabilities; it requires a wide range of valves and materials, poses higher technology and documentation requirements, and, as different markets have varying needs, a large inventory of products and services is essential. For Viza Valves, meeting these challenges is the driving force that helped shape the unique stance of the company; to make complicated simple.
Technical Innovations
Today, Viza Valves has products and services available in over 50 countries, including those within North America, West Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia; everything it does is oriented toward meeting market and customer needs. To do so, the company considers both customer requirements and market feedback when working on projects. It then uses that data to improve its technical capabilities, and further elevate the designs and performance of its products.
The high demand for Viza Valves’ forged trunnion ball valves is indicative of the quality of the products it produces. These ball valves are offered in different designs, such as the three-piece design, hard sealing, welded body, top entry, cryogenic, and more. They are suitable for a wide variety of applications in upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors, especially in increasingly popularized sectors such as shale gas exploration, FPSO, and LNG.
As Viza Valves intends to continue to keep pace with the changing market trend, several of its new products are automated valves; a combination of the valve and actuator. In 2020, Viza Valves received its API 6A certification. Now, the company boasts a portfolio that consists of a 6A-certified ball, check, and throttle valves with several sizes and pressure classes available. Viza Valves also offers API 6D ball, check, and gate valves, API 600 gate, globe, and check valves, high-performance triple off-set butterfly valves, soft seal butterfly valves, rubber lined gate valves, and is currently developing an API 6A series product line.
With the oil & gas industry facing more stringent environmental policies, Viza Valves has also invested several resources in product research and development for cladding and sealing on valve bodies. It has passed the SIL3 test as well as other low emissions tests such as ISO, Ta Luft, API 624, and API 641.
“After years of stagnancy, the energy development market has restored its vigor. The need for valve products will surely boost in the coming years. Viza Valves is going to continue working closely with clients and seize this development opportunity. Through its advanced technical skills, and short delivery times, Viza Valves specializes in project-driven business and is determined to input significant resources and continue to exceed customer needs,” said Mr. Zong.
“Great challenges have been imposed on the valve industry, from complex designs to large-scale projects, all with the goal of reducing carbon emissions. I, however, view these as great opportunities. That is why Viza Valves has been investing in the energy sector for quite some time.”
A Focus on the Energy Sector
With its established reputation in the traditional energy market, Viza Valves is now focused on the new energy sector and environmental protection markets. These include green hydrogen production, solar power, geothermal, carbon capture and storage, and more. “Innovation in the valve industry usually originates from the downstream sector. Rather than traditional oil & gas industries, new energy sectors have been inspiring and motivating the valve industry. Great challenges have been imposed on the valve industry, from complex designs to large-scale projects, all with the goal of reducing carbon emissions. I, however view these as great opportunities. That is why Viza Valves has been investing in the energy sector for quite some time,” said Mr. Zong.
One of the ways that it ensures that its products can meet the new stringent requirements is through its flexible manufacturing capabilities. Viza Valves and its technical team can work with customers to provide a smooth experience by extracting the exact needs of the customer and transforming complicated requirements into solutions. The company strives to produce zero-defect valves exclusively.
This initiative is much more than just a slogan to Viza Valves. Rather, this principle has been woven into each part of the business, from management to daily operations. For example, its total quality management system has been integrated with strict quality control practices. As the quality of materials directly impacts a product’s performance, Viza Valves has an established metal lab, complete with testing facilities for its products. Its testing capabilities include chemical element analysis, mechanical tests, non-destructive testing (NDT), such as ultra-sound, magnetic particle, dye penetration, radiographic, as well as positive material identification.
Factory tests are taken very seriously at Viza Valves, as this is the final chance to verify product performance before it reaches the customer. To further ensure that each valve meets all the requirements, water pressure testing is often used, and the company has invested in high-pressure air testing, high and low temperature test chambers, and low-emissions testing for its specialty valves. Each of the tests’ results are recorded and filed within the quality control system, complete with the valve series number and all inspection documents, making it easy to retrieve if needed.
Increasing Value by Considering the Total Valve Life Cycle
Viza Valves is keen on providing a complete set of engineering solutions. Mr. Zong and the team share the same understanding: “No one can produce all types of valves under one roof, and it is not reasonable to produce all the parts and devices of a valve on one’s own. ‘Complete set of engineering solutions’ involves a full industry chain, consisting of various relevant industries and sectors, and that is the service we provide. To deliver a solution that satisfies the customer’s needs, a solution provider must have deep knowledge and understanding of the whole industry chain; this is the foundation for creating a solution.”
Viza Valves does not, therefore, waiver in the face of competition. Instead, it focuses on improving its value-add by considering the total life cycle of a valve and working with others in the chain to achieve a comprehensive result.
“We define ‘valve cost’ as the total cost, including the purchase price and costs associated with use and maintenance. To specify, maintenance includes the lifecycle of the valve, installation, repair, use, and quality cost,” explained Mr. Zong. “Our responsibility is, therefore, to up-hold the craftsman spirit and focus on in-depth research done in the fields to address each of these costs. By immersing ourselves in the technology, we are able to keep innovating and improving product quality while achieving high operation efficiency.”
More specifically, Viza Valves’ R&D team works diligently to improve processes while the service and technical teams maintain communication with customers, collecting and analyzing feedback to obtain a real-time understanding of product performance. With all these talented teams, the company can effectively communicate with customers to provide reliable and bespoke products in an expedited manner.
“Our responsibility is, therefore, to uphold the craftsman spirit and focus on in-depth research done in the fields to address each of these costs. By immersing ourselves in the technology, we are able to keep innovating and improving product quality while achieving high operation efficiency.”
Looking Forward
By constantly forging its brand, Viza Valves has become a reliable business partner for multiple local markets. With over 20 years of experience in project-based business, Viza Valves can successfully compile and sum up customer needs in relation to complicated applications. Additionally, the company integrates various efficient resources. All these efforts are to prevent potential risks, as well as blaze the way towards direct solutions. This is how Viza Valves streamlines cost and maximizes value for customers.
