Behind the scenes: When Air Liquide gives the floor to its customers
Published on January 09, 2026
3 minutes
Paris, Air Liquide Head Office. Silence falls over the audience. This is not an ordinary institutional presentation. Today, the roles are reversed: Air Liquide is listening, its customers are speaking. And the guiding principle given by David Prinselaar, Group Vice President, Industrial Direction and member of the Executive Committee, is clear: the discussion must be "without filter." On stage, three industry giants—Airbus, Michelin, and Saint-Gobain—came to share their reality and their expectations for a strong support to achieve their objectives.
Daily performance, the foundation of partnership
The discussion quickly highlights an obvious point: the foundation of a lasting and relevant partnership remains operational performance.
When a supplier demonstrates operational performance on a daily basis, we can effectively move beyond the transactional and move towards value creation.
Marjorie Quinton, Corporate Buyer Fluids at Michelin
For her, the proximity of Air Liquide sites to Michelin factories is not a logistical detail; it is a concrete asset, enabling responsiveness, reliability, and efficiency day after day.
Discover her full interview :
This operational excellence is particularly crucial in highly regulated sectors, such as aviation. Esther Andrade, General Procurement Lead Buyer for industrial gases at Airbus, reiterates the importance of complying with sector requirements, which must be applied throughout the supply chain.
Agility and listening at the heart of innovation
Our guests then deliver a direct message: today, performance alone is no longer enough. Agility has become essential to support the rapid transformation of industries.
At Saint-Gobain, there is one conviction: good innovations start with a customer need. For Malika Amara, Global Customer Experience Director, this needs to be attentive, requires to be agile and capable of "challenging your operating methods" to make things easier for the customer.
Discover her full interview:
Value creation, expertise and customer mindset
One question emerges from the discussions: what really makes the difference? For our guests, what distinguishes a supplier from a true partner is the ability to generate value beyond the simple commercial transaction. This value creation takes several forms.
For Michelin, this relates to strategic alignment: sharing the same ambitions, particularly concerning sustainability, constitutes the foundation of any lasting collaboration.
For Airbus, the expectation rests on know-how and proactivity, as stated by Esther Andrade: "I expect the expertise to be brought to Airbus," she insists, calling on Air Liquide to propose the best solutions even before the need is formulated.
Finally, one last factor stands out: the human dimension, which binds everything together. Marjorie Quinton emphasizes the fundamental role of the relationship in creating fluidity, through plant visits, meetings, and events, such as this exchange with three key industry players, reminding us of the pillars of a sustainable partnership: listening, proximity, operational performance, and agility.