Pump suppliers will experience rising sales resulting in just under $46 billion in revenue by 2017. This is the conclusion reached by the McIlvaine Company in Pumps World Market.
The early pump companies were foundries. Completive edge and greater revenue were based around manufacturing skills. Today the pump industry is much more focused on providing solutions for customers. This can include purchased components and software. These auxiliaries are reflected in the revenues reported by the companies.
A significant part of the growth is due to the "smart pump" offerings. Smart pumps can be integrated directly into plant distributed control systems. They reduce maintenance and improve performance.
The Grundfos smart DDA pump comes as a package with:
Flow Control with selective fault diagnosis
Pressure monitoring
Flow measurement
Intuitive and self-explanatory menu
Click wheel (turn-and-push knob)
Big graphical LCD with four color "traffic light" concept
More than 25 languagesIt has the ability to improve the dosing function for pH control, disinfection, or cleaning-in-place.
Pump company "smart" revenues can extend to retrofits on competitors pumps.
Four years ago Colfax Corporation developed an intelligent concept pump with the ability to monitor its performance, adjust to changing conditions and order its own replacement parts - all without human supervision. The TX2020 can operate by itself at a remote pumping location or be connected to a network of pumps managed at a central office.
TX2020 pump software includes a preventive maintenance calendar and, based on foreseen needs or detected problems, the ability to determine which parts need replacement and issue a purchase order for them. For marine applications the TX2020 can even provide a preprogrammed list of the service stations closest to the vessel, with full coordinates and contact details. The software also maintains precise records, in the form of an electronic log book operators can use to track performance trends over time.
These examples are part of a trend among pump suppliers to supply the "smart" auxiliaries.
