FIREX 2018

Hochiki centenary Q&A: Our commitment to R&D sets us apart

Avatar photo

Contributor

Author Bio ▼

Adam Bannister is a contributor to IFSEC Global, having been in the role of Editor from 2014 through to November 2019. Adam also had stints as a journalist at cybersecurity publication, The Daily Swig, and as Managing Editor at Dynamis Online Media Group.
April 4, 2018

Download

Whitepaper: Enhancing security, resilience and efficiency across a range of industries

Hochiki is 100 years old this week and has just celebrated a record financial year.

Founded in Japan in 1918 the venerable life safety brand has long since expanded well beyond Asia and now has 18 subsidiaries worldwide.

Hochiki’s 1,500 employees also work across five manufacturing plants and 32 sales offices, while sales turnover for the entire group has surpassed £400m.

With IFSEC 2018 now just a few weeks away, we spoke to Tracy Kirk, general manager for sales and marketing at Hochiki Europe, about the brand’s plan’s for the show in its centenary year.

IFSEC Global: Where does Hochiki Europe fit into the life safety market and how is its position evolving?

Tracy Kirk: Over the last century, Hochiki has led the way in the design and manufacture of world-class life safety systems and our brand has come to be recognised as one that is synonymous with integrity and reliability.

Hochiki Europe was first established in 1993 with our headquarters in Gillingham UK. As a business, we now serve the UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa and India markets with the latest fire detection and emergency lighting systems.

The last financial year was a record one for us and, over the next five to 10 years, we are committed to further boosting our presence in the international overseas market.

As a business, we’ll be focusing on growing the sales of our emergency lighting solutions around the world and continuing to advance our life safety product offerings.

At Hochiki Europe, we recognise the important role we can play as industry educators, supporting those who specify, install and maintain life safety technology in understanding the latest products and legislation. With this in mind, we offer a variety of training courses, CPD seminars, white papers and literature for our stakeholders and end-users.

More information can be found on our website.

IG: What are Hochiki’s USPs and strengths?

TK: Our century-long pedigree as a life safety systems manufacturer certainly helps us stand out from the crowd.

Hochiki Corporation was founded in Tokyo in 1918 and, ever since, we have been renowned for the ultra-high quality of our technology, as well as the calibre of the pre- and post-sale support services we provide for our customers around the world.

We utilise more than 250 in-house design tests, analysing each of the 50,000 products we produce each month

Quality and reliability is a cornerstone of our business and, in this sector, nothing is more important. Each one of Hochiki Europe’s products is individually inspected and tested before it’s released into the market. We utilise more than 250 in-house design tests, analysing each of the 50,000 products we produce each month.

Our wide range of EN as well as UL standard approved products give our customers confidence they are fitting reliable equipment that complies with some of the world’s most stringent safety regulations.

What truly sets us apart is our commitment to continuously research and develop new technologies. This is at the heart of our culture and a key factor which drives us to grow and succeed as a business well into the future.

IG: Have you launched or updated any products recently? Or is anything in the pipeline in the run up to FIREX?

TK: It’s a very exciting time for us in terms of the new life safety solutions we’re developing.

We recently extended our energy-efficient FIREscape LED emergency lighting range with FIREscape lite: a new, mains-powered solution. The standalone, self-contained product offers greater flexibility for refurbishment and other smaller projects to meet latest standards without the need for a control panel-governed lighting system.

FIREscape+, also an exciting member of the FIREscape family which combines fire detection and emergency lighting on one panel and one set of cables, will be released this  year and will be featured on our stand at FIREX 2018.

Another of our latest releases is our L@titude platform, a powerful, sophisticated and flexible control and indication system. Using some of the most advanced technology available, L@titude is one of the most intelligent and technically robust fire alarm platforms on the market.

The ACD-EN is the most technologically superior multi-sensor we’ve ever developed

In addition, we are launching our new multi-sensor into the European market. The ACD-EN is the most technologically superior multi-sensor we’ve ever developed, offering system designers and installers 24 EN-approved modes of operation incorporating smoke, heat and carbon monoxide (CO) detection to suit a multitude of environments.

LEAKalarm, our fully customisable and configurable water detection system, will also be launched into the market this year. The easy-to-install LEAKalarm devices allow for fully-monitored moisture detection in areas where the smallest amount of water could damage computer or electrical networks.

Hochiki Europe representatives will be on hand to discuss our latest products and capabilities on stand A355 at this year’s FIREX event.

IG: What are your plans for FIREX – key messages, how you’re presenting those messages, what can visitors expect to see, learn and experience on the stand?

TK: This year we’re celebrating Hochiki Corporation’s 100th birthday, which is a huge milestone for us. To mark this, our stand will showcase on our Japanese heritage and history.

In addition to our VIP lounge, we’ll also have live demonstrations of products on stand and educational literature available to take away.

This year also marks the release of our most advanced multi-sensor ever, as well as other important products following years of research and investment. The ACD-EN devices will feature prominently on the stand, together with FIREscape+ and LEAKalarm, our other key product releases for the year ahead.

Also, due to the popularity at last year’s show, we will again be hosting free, short, on-stand seminars to visitors around topics such as multi-sensors and emergency lighting throughout the event.

IG: What kind of potential customers or partners are you hoping to meet during FIREX?

TK: At FIREX, we always love to hear from anyone who’s interested in the latest issues and technologies in the life safety sector. We encourage all of our stakeholders – from system integrators, to distribution specialists to facilities managers – to come and talk to our representatives.

We would also like to meet the end users of our solutions. Not only does it give us more insight into today’s complex life safety landscape, it’s important that duty holders take a hands-on approach to understand the technology available to them and their legal obligations as building owners – all of which we can help them with.

IG: Any other comments on Hochiki or the fire market generally?

TK: As a business, over the years, we’ve remained customer-centric, with a robust front line of support that allows stakeholders to get the help they need, quickly and efficiently.

For more information about our services, as well as useful literature, training information and product data, visit our new website.

Hochiki Europe is exhibiting at FIREX International, 19-21 June 2018, ExCeL London. You can find them on stand A355. Register now.

2023 Fire Safety eBook – Grab your free copy!

Download the Fire Safety in 2023 eBook, keeping you up to date with the biggest news and prosecution stories from around the industry. Chapters include important updates such as the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and an overview of the new British Standard for the digital management of fire safety information.

Plus, we explore the growing risks of lithium-ion battery fires and hear from experts in disability evacuation and social housing.

FireSafetyeBook-CoverPage-23

Related Topics

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments