Joined by the longest-established MAN licensed partner still in existence, MAN Diesel & Turbo has been celebrating the hundredth anniversary of its licensing agreement. For the world market leader in large-bore marine diesel engines, the awarding of licences, which was started as a business model by Rudolf Diesel, is of great significance.
As far back as 1911, the forerunner companies to MAN Diesel & Turbo and the Japanese firm Kawasaki Heavy Industries signed the first licensing agreement for the construction of large diesel engines. Last year, the agreement was extended by a further ten years, meaning that both companies are now able to celebrate their partnership’s centenary.
In the licensing business, the licensee is awarded permission, in exchange for a licence fee, to build products designed by the licensor. MAN Diesel & Turbo applies this business model completely to its two-stroke engines, and in some cases to other parts of its product portfolio – namely four-stroke engines, turbochargers and marine propellers. At the moment, MAN Diesel & Turbo is collaborating with around 40 licensees, around half of which come from China. Dr. René Umlauft, CEO of MAN Diesel & Turbo, highlighted the importance of the licensing business: “The licensees are our central partners with whom we collaborate on a close and long-term basis. We supplement our own expertise in the development of modern, large diesel engines through these cooperation agreements, which give us access to local markets and local production capacities – a business model that reaps benefits for both sides.”
With the giant two-stroke diesel engines in particular, for example, the advantages for MAN Diesel & Turbo, as a licensor, include the fact that the engines, some of which weigh over 2,000 tonnes, can be produced in the immediate vicinity of dockyards – mostly in the shipping construction nations of Asia. At the same time, the company can focus on the highly expert development of its engines; the advantage for the licensee is that he does not need to worry about the complex and expensive job of creating development capacities.