May 2003

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Pump Industry Analyst

IN BRIEF

• In a £1.3 million deal,Spirax-Sarco Engineeringplc has acquired theWatson-Marlow Bredelperistaltic pump distributor-ships in South Africa fromWalter Becker.

• Thirty-eight former Pörringer+ Schindler employees areset to join KSB’s valve pro-duction facility in Lünen atthe beginning of May. KSBacquired Pörringer +Schindler’s Lünen plant inNovember last year.

• The theme of the AlfaLaval stand at the forthcom-ing Achema show inFrankfurt, Germany will be“A few magic moments”,reflecting the impact thecompany wants its newproducts to have on its cus-tomers’ business.

• Australia’s Sykes, whichmanufactures a range of auto-matic self-priming pumps, islooking for European distrib-utors. For further details con-tact Jeff Butler at jb@syke-spumps.com.au.

• Lowara Srl has renewed itsISO 9001:2000 certifica-tion, issued by IQNet andCISQ/ICIM, for itsMontecchio Maggiore andMalé factories in Italy.

• ITT PRO Services andGeiger Pump and Equip-ment have established apartnership to meet cus-tomers’ service, repairs andmaintenance needs in theMid-Atlantic market.

• Intelliquip has releasedversion 3.1 of IntelliquipSolutions, its sales automa-tion system for pump com-panies. Intelliquip is cur-rently working with earlyadopters KSB, CrownPump, Johnston Pump, PacoPumps, Sta-Rite Industriesand Weir Floway.

• 2003 marks PutzmeisterSystems Engineering’s25th year of devising solu-tions for different pumping applications.

INVENSYSRETAINS

APV PUMPSAiling engineering groupInvensys is narrowing itsfocus from two core divisionsto just one, ProductionManagement, while continu-ing to develop its RailSystems business.

Invensys, which wasformed in 1999 with the merg-er of BTR and Siebe, is sellingtwo-thirds of its businesses ina bid to secure its financialposition. However Invensyswill retain the ProductionManagement division, whichincludes APV, Avantis,Eurotherm, Foxboro, SimSci-Esscor, Triconex and Wonder-ware. APV makes pumps,valves, homogenizers and heatexchangers as well as systems,which range from unit systemsto complete turnkey solutions,including automation, drying,evaporation, distillation andmembranes.

Invensys plans to divest itsholdings either partially orwholly in Baan, ApplianceControls, Climate Controls,Metering Systems, APVBaker, Powerware, Lambda,Teccor and Hansen Trans-missions. These companieswill be managed in an expand-ed Development Division,which for the year to March2002 would have had com-bined revenues of £2.9 billion.Rail Systems will be managedon a stand-alone basis.

FLOWSERVEIMPLEMENTS

CRM STRATEGYFlowserve is developing aCustomer RelationshipManagement (CRM) strate-gy to improve the ease withwhich it can offer multipleproducts from its pump,valve and seal divisions.

Working with ComputerSciences Corp (CSC),Flowserve will implement aCRM approach giving the

company a comprehensiveunderstanding of its cus-tomers’ needs. “We’re tryingto mirror the way many of ourcustomers want to viewFlowserve - as a global entitythat has a complete snapshotof each customer’s needs andprovides the right products tohelp them meet their specificgoals,” says John Jacko,Flowserve’s corporate vicepresident of marketing andcommunication. He acknowl-edges that at the moment it isdifficult for customers andFlowserve to look across theorganization and understandhow the key customer require-ments and satisfaction areaffected across the divisions.

Jacko said that by integrat-ing supply chain planning andCRM, Flowserve would beable to conduct more accuratesales and operations planning.He believes that an integratedCRM approach will enhanceFlowserve’s business segmentmanagement knowledge aboutthe demand for products, andhow that demand impactsmanufacturing and engineer-ing. For example, the supplychain system could initiaterequests for the supplies nec-essary to create a finishedproduct as soon as a customerplaces an order.

AXFLOW DISTRIBUTES

WANNER PUMPSIN FRANCE

Following an agreementsigned with AB Pompes &Procédés and WannerInternational earlier thisyear, AxFlow SAS nowexclusively distributes andservices Wanner Hydra Cellpumps in France.

Hydra Cell pumps aredesigned for leak proof pump-ing at high pressure or for pul-sation-free metering of abra-sives, corrosive products, inlow or medium viscosities.Pumps and spares are stockedby the AxFlow Service Centre

in Montlouis-sur-Loire.AxFlow SAS, previouslyknown in France as VolumAx,specializes in pumps andequipment for difficult liquids.

POLYAIR ADDSJACUZZI POOL

BUSINESSPolyair Inter Pack Inc is toacquire the swimming pooland pool equipment assetsfrom Jacuzzi Inc and JacuzziLeisure Products Inc in aUS$41.2 million deal.

The assets include theAtlantic Pools trade names andother brand names as well asrelated accounts receivable,inventory and machinery as wellas a licence to use the Jacuzzitrademark on certain products.The product range includesabove ground pools, swimmingpool pumps and filters.

In the last full fiscal year,the acquired businesses gener-ated annual revenues ofapproximately US$55 millionfrom sales in North Americaand Europe. This acquisitionwill increase Polyair’s rev-enues by 50% and establish itsPool Products Group as astronger player in the NorthAmerican swimming poolindustry.

Polyair Inter Pack is a sub-sidiary of ConsolidatedMercantile Inc, a managementholding company with coreinterests in packaging, swim-ming pool products, furnitureand finance.

PUMP OPINION

• Asked by www.world-pumps.com whether theworld pump market wouldshow growth this year, 71%of respondents said yes,25% said no, and 4%thought that the marketwould stay the same.Readers can track opinionsin the pump industrythrough the Pump Poll atwww.worldpumps.com.