Alfa Laval just published a brand new edition of the company’s renowned Pump Handbook. The 375-page handbook is free and contains scholarly information on basic pump functionality and in-depth guidelines for sizing and selecting the right pump type for optimum efficiency. The handbook is packed with real-life examples to increase its user-friendliness.

The first edition of the Alfa Laval Pump Handbook was published 25 years ago and soon became part of the syllabus at engineering schools around the world. The book also found its way into manufacturing sites, serving as a reference work to technicians in the daily operation of fluid handling processes.

Up-to-date on pump technology

Over the years, the handbook has gone through minor revisions, and in 2023, a major overhaul was undertaken to make the handbook up-to-date on the most recent technologies.

“We have worked hard to provide the global pump community with the most recent knowledge about pump functionality and leading-edge technologies that enhance pump efficiency to meet the sustainability agenda of societies and industries. Pumps are among the most power consuming devices in fluid handling processes, and the potential for energy savings is big, when you select the right pump from the start and maintain it along the way,” says Lars Sørensen, Manager, Product Management at Alfa Laval.

The authors of the book are all experienced pump engineers with extensive theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience from pump installations and training of technical staff in fluid handling industries.

Available online

The handbook is free and available online. It can be downloaded from www.alfalaval/PumpHandbook and contains a series of videos on for instance pump functionality, troubleshooting and maintenance guidelines.

The main chapters of the handbook comprise:

• Basic theory on pumping applications
• Pump types for different applications
• Pump sizing for maximum efficiency
• Pump specification
• Pump motors
• Troubleshooting
• Technical data and formulas

On 20^th of April 2023, Krones has signed an agreement to acquire 90 % of Ampco Pumps Company LLC. Based in Wisconsin, USA, Ampco Pumps is supplying sanitary pumps and applied products like mixing and blending equipment to the food, beverage, dairy processing, personal care and pharmaceuticals markets. The company has more than 70 year history in the pump market and is a key player for sanitary pumps in the US food and beverage market.

In the 2022 fiscal year, Ampco Pumps generated with a workforce of more than 130 employees revenue of approx. USD 50 million and a high EBITDA margin. The transaction will increase the profitability margin of the “Process Technology” segment as well as the group margin of Krones. Current Ampco management will remain and will continue to hold 10 % of the shares of Ampco. Krones has an option to buy the 10 % of the shares in the future.

The acquisition of Ampco Pumps is a major step in expanding the components business of Krones Processing. With Ampco Pumps and Evoguard Valve Technology Krones has now a broad portfolio of all key components for the processing technology market. In addition, the businesses of the two companies complement each other perfectly in regional terms.

The transaction is subject to approval under the relevant antitrust legislation. Krones expects the transaction to be completed (closing) within the first half of 2023. As of the closing date, Krones will consolidate the figures of Ampco Pumps in the “Process Technology” segment.

GEA Group AG decided on strategic guidelines and significant investments to further optimize its production network. In this context, production at the Bodenheim site near Mainz (GER) will be discontinued by the end of 2024. The plant in Koszalin, Poland, will be expanded into a Center of Competence for pump production and comprehensive machining. GEA will invest around EUR 30 million in this expansion. Investments and a further consolidation of production and process activities are planned at other locations, too. The aim is to further strengthen GEA’s global production network in order to increase productivity and reduce its cost base.

The agreed investments, as well as the guidelines of the underlying production strategy, are key pillars of GEA’s overall strategy. They are part of a series of measures the Group has decided on and implemented over the past 18 months: a new organizational structure, restructuring measures, and the new composition of the Executive Board. As part of the production strategy, production is supposed to become more international to increase customer proximity and leverage cost advantages. Additionally, it is planned to concentrate products and processes with synergy potential at certain locations and to increase capacity utilization. The aim is also to expand standardized production based on modular systems and to optimize the depth of value creation, partly through the reintegration of tasks that had previously been outsourced. The expansion of the Polish site in Koszalin is the first major investment within this production strategy. Since the adoption of the targets at the Capital Market Day 2019, GEA has already relocated around 40,000 production hours from Chateau-Thierry in France to Tianjin in China. The transfer of a further 120,000 production hours within China by consolidating the Shanghai plant with Suzhou will be completed by the end of this year. The current productivity initiative and associated investments in digitalization and automation are expected to increase productivity and reduce overall costs.

Stefan Klebert, CEO of GEA Group AG, commented, “Optimizing our global production footprint is an important step to increase our profitability in the long term. We are building on previously implemented improvement measures that already had a positive effect on our financials in previous quarters. Going forward, we will concentrate certain standardized products and processes at individual sites. At the same time, we stay true to our basic principle of producing “local for local” to best meet customer-specific requirements. This partial centralization allows us to better balance our production concept between customer proximity, efficiency, and proven site-specific expertise.”

In addition to the strategic guidelines, the site consolidation measures are initially aimed at reducing costs and leveraging economies of scale in production. As part of the new production strategy, around 150,000 production hours are to be transferred from Germany to GEA’s Polish site in Koszalin between 2022 and 2024. In this context, the Koszalin site will be significantly expanded. Among other things, around 90,000 production hours, which are currently performed by external providers, will gradually be implemented in Koszalin from 2021. The relocation of production hours to Poland is expected to lead to a reduction of around 160 jobs in Germany by the end of 2024. Around 60 of these are planned to be reduced through natural fluctuation and partial retirement solutions. As part of this site consolidation, it is intended to close down pump production at the Bodenheim site near Mainz with its around 90 production employees by the end of 2024. The remaining functions located there, such as R&D, are not affected. GEA aims to reduce its workforce without any compulsory redundancies.

In line with the production strategy, Koszalin will be expanded into a Center of Competence for pump production and comprehensive machining. The latter is an important step in the production process of numerous GEA end products. For this purpose, GEA plans to invest around EUR 30 million in the expansion of this site over the coming years. In addition to Koszalin, the new production strategy defines eight further Centers of Competence. Of GEA’s 26 German sites, four – Berlin, Bönen, Büchen, and Oelde – will also be extended to Centers of Competence, along with the Italian factories in Parma, Colognola and Manfredonia as well as the plant in Tianjin, China. Investments for expanding these sites as part of the production strategy are planned, too. GEA intends to add additional Centers of Competence in the future. All investments will take place within the scope of the existing financial planning framework and will neither impact the outlook for 2020 nor GEA’s medium-term targets.

Johannes Giloth, Chief Operating Officer of GEA Group AG and also responsible for production, commented: “This production strategy contains crucial measures to further optimize our production network. By expanding our site in Koszalin, we will more than quadruple the number of employees there, from currently around 60 to approximately 250. The production area will increase fivefold. However, we are not exclusively relying on relocation. We continue to invest Group-wide and will look at each individual plant to see how we can improve productivity. Further digitalization and automation of our production – two important drivers for more efficiency – will play a key role in this process.”

A tough market, according to GEA experts Martin Zickler and Dave Medlar, where it is better to start planning from the back in order to make everything right from the beginning. That’s why they first built up the service network and a local assembly and then made a promise: GEA pumps will bring a new level of quality, efficiency and hygiene to the US dairy, pharmaceutical, food and beverage markets.

GEA acquired Hilge, a leading German pump manufacturer, in June 2015. Since then the company has been integrated into GEA and has benefitted from its engineering experience and global network of customers, suppliers and agents. Now that the pumps have received 3-A certification, the time is right to meet the US market head on.

Martin Zickler is the product manager for hygienic pumps, based in Germany. He worked with Hilge before the GEA acquisition. “The old company had no footprint in the USA,” he said. “But now that we have the backing of GEA and a comprehensive service and distribution network in the country, we are ready to take on the challenge.”

Michael Brandt is the business development manager charged with the job of making the US launch a success. He said that he had never had any doubts about the quality of the pumps and the opportunities for them in the US, but he had to make sure that the service and support structure was up to American standards before introducing them to the market.

Get ahead by looking back

“GEA pumps are strong, reliable workhorses but, for the American market, service is critical,” he explained. “We need to be able to respond quickly to our customers and provide a fast spares service. We also needed a reliable distribution network as customers need to know that if they require assistance, they can get the relevant expertise quickly.”

Dave Medlar, head of sales valves & pumps USA and his team have been working hard to get the support network in place before the product launch. “Of course, providing excellent service is always work in progress but I am now confident that we are ready,” he said. “We have a global reputation to maintain; when people buy a GEA product, they know it’s going to be supported well, also during the entire service life of a pump.”

Hygienic approach becomes a must-have

The GEA centrifugal pumps have a unique impeller design that sets them apart from normal centrifugal pumps. “We have pushed the impeller towards the front making it more efficient and the mechanical seal easier to cool. It mimics a closed impeller but can still be used in the pharmaceutical industry and wherever sanitary conditions are required,” said Martin. “This means the pump is easier to clean and can handle a much wider range of liquids.”

In addition, GEA pump housings are manufactured by deep drawing, not casting. This provides a much higher quality surface finish without blow holes in which bacteria can collect. Although this has been a feature demanded largely by the pharmaceutical industry in the past, the food and beverage market is increasingly requiring a more hygienic approach throughout all aspects of its production.

Engineering excellence that allows customization

Although the product’s unique features are impressive, and it has a great reputation for reliability, Michael sees an even stronger sales proposition in the engineering experience of the GEA group. “It’s like an engineer’s toolbox,” he said. “We know that all applications are different and it’s flexibility that our customers need. Because we are engineers, not just suppliers of components, we can adapt the pumps to fit virtually any application. This might include, for example, different fittings or mountings, a more robust design or even providing the pump on a trolley. We look at the application, then work out what the customer needs are.”

The Verder Group, a Dutch family-owned manufacturer and distributor of pumps and laboratory equipment, acquires the German hygienic sales organization Koch Pumpentechnik Vertriebs GmbH & Co. KG.

The Verder Group, the fast growing niche market manufacturer of pumps and laboratory equipment has announced the acquisition of Koch Pumpentechnik, specialized in the sales of Packo hygienic pumping solutions in Germany. Koch has extensive knowledge to offer hygienic solutions for customers in the food & beverage industry, specifically milk and breweries, as well as the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry.

The acquisition will strengthen Verder’s hygienic pump position by offering a full portfolio of high end products, extensive knowledge and full support throughout Germany. As of today the new organization will continue under the name Verder-Koch GmbH & Co. KG.

Andries Verder, CEO of Verder International, says that the Group is very excited to have Koch join the Verder family of companies. “We feel that the integration of Koch into the Verder sales organization will further fortify the position of Verder-Koch in the German hygienic market. Joining forces will give the Koch team access to a wide variety of hygienic pump principles that are produced in-house by Verder, like JEC lobe pumps, twin-screw pumps and hygienic peristaltic and diaphragm pumps from Verderflex and Verderair. The acquisition of Koch with their unrivalled knowledge of hygienic processes will also benefit the whole Verder organization.

Founded in 1980, Koch Pumpentechnik has shown continuous growth due to its strong knowledge of hygienic processes and centrifugal pump applications. This has earned them the reputation of a premium solution provider throughout Germany. Director Uwe Koch will stay on board as the managing director of Verder-Koch.

The Verder Group was founded by André Verder in 1959 as a trading company of innovative products. The Group has remained under family management and is active with its own sales and manufacturing sites in 27 countries. The two divisions Verder Liquids (industrial & hygienic pumps) and Verder Scientific (laboratory equipment) have kept an equal and substantial growth pace over the years.

The Verder Group, a Dutch family-owned business specializing in the manufacture and distribution of pumps and laboratory equipment, acquires the South-Korean pump manufacturer JEC Ltd.

The Verder Group, the fast growing niche market manufacturer of pumps and laboratory equipment has acquired JEC, manufacturer of hygienic rotary lobe, centrifugal and twin-screw pumps. This acquisition will strengthen Verder’s hygienic position in the pharmaceutical and food & beverage market, offering a full portfolio of high end products in the most important economies worldwide.

Founded in 1990, JEC Ltd. has shown continuous growth due to its innovation in the production of high quality pumps for the food, pharmaceutical and other hygienic markets, nowadays being a leading Asian pump manufacturer. JEC Ltd, the market leader in Korea, has an extensive distribution network worldwide. Director James Song will stay involved in the management of JEC Ltd.

The Verder Group was founded by André Verder in 1959 as a trading company of innovative products. The Group has remained under family management and is active with own sales offices in 27 countries and several manufacturing sites. The two divisions Verder Liquids (industrial pumps) and Verder Scientific (laboratory equipment) have kept an equal growth pace over the years.