Recycling for pump sustainability

June 17, 2019 5:52 pm

Being one of the first ever pump companies to introduce electronics in pumps, Grundfos aims to create simpler, integrated and effective interactions with the pumps, says Mahathi Parashuram, Regional Head of Public Affairs, Grundfos APAC Region.

Make in India make for India’s pump sector
While the government’s Make in India encourages local companies, it also has some challenges for MNCs like us. That being said, most challenges have a positive aspect as well – for example India, like the rest of the world, wants to consume less energy and be more sustainable. Around 10 per cent of the world’s electricity is consumed by pumps; a great opportunity for Grundfos as the Indian pump industry now expects better and efficient products.

Digital India’s efforts to empower the pump industry
Grundfos aimed to create interactions with the pumps to be simpler and more integrated and effective. The new era of technology innovations transforms every application into a fully connected autonomous system delivering unrivalled performance. The Grundfos iSolution is one of the perfect examples for how technology can be user centric and take advantage of the intelligent connectivity today.

India, the hub of pump manufacturing
Though the Make in India move has undoubtedly resulted in an exponential rise in domestic production and has made India a local manufacturing hub, it is critical for the manufacturing industry to identify the roadblocks to energy efficiency. The industry also needs to focus on the sustainability of components used and production. Globally, most of the markets can be seen adopting high efficiency motors to reduce the percentage of energy consumed by motors. The most effective way to reduce energy losses is to upgrade to better and efficient motor designs. The motors based on its efficiency standards are rated IE1 to IE5 with most countries adopting IE5 motors. The market in India though is yet to align with the global standards, operating mostly with IE2 motors. This affects the growth of the market as companies looking to heavily invest in the Indian market to source products globally, require efficient systems. This also in turn impedes India’s aim to achieve the SDG targets for water and energy as the systems we work with need to match up to the efficiency standards set up globally.

Lack of scalable platform to market the products
The pump industry in India is a highly unregulated market. One of the biggest challenges is the influx of copied and inefficient pumps that flood the market at cut-throat prices. Inefficient pumps not only use a lot of energy but also end up wasting water due to lack of proper pump design. It is necessary to regulate this market and ensure the quality of the pumps manufactured and sold in India.

Enhancing productivity, quality and service
The quality management in Grundfos ensures the reliability of the products and customer satisfaction through continual improvement and development towards the zero-defects philosophy at all stages from product development through purchasing, production and distribution to marketing, sales and service. We continuously assess and improve the environmental impact of all our activities by prevention of pollution in compliance with legal & other requirements and by considering the lifecycle assessment of the products & services, to promote a culture of sustainability for a greener and cleaner planet.

Robust roadmap for the future
The pump industry in India is changing for the good, with customers and consumers focusing on intelligent, energy efficient and sustainable solutions that will not only help save costs but also the planet. With rapid urbanisation and industrial growth is further fueling the demand for energy efficient pumps.

Rapid urbanisation and industrial growth is further fueling the demand for energy efficient pumps
Mahathi Parashuram, Regional Head of Public Affairs, Grundfos APAC Region