Pumps & Systems staff spoke with Todd Loudin, president and CEO of North American operations at Flowrox, Inc., about the current state of the industry and what we should watch for in the coming year.
Q. What trends do you see in the pump industry for 2016?
A. The entire situation right now is the market overall is very depressed globally for us as well as, I think, for all of our competitors—everybody. We’ve got to protect our good customers during those times and look for opportunities. … I really feel the direction we’re heading now and the timing is fantastic because once we come out of this and all the markets start to recover, we will be positioned very well.
Q. What can companies do to address challenges in 2016?
A. At Flowrox, we have formed a new company within our company – Flowrox Automation. Basically it’s a new company to look at the automation of all of our products. What I mean by automation is the use of the Internet of Things to connect our products. We want a situation where, for instance, we have a pump operating at a plant site, that pump sends out a notification to us, ‘I’m in trouble,’ and I need to fix it. … We intend to have certain types of diagnostics and monitoring that is Internet-based, digitally friendly so they may see on a screen the pressure the pump is pumping at, the temperature of the medium, if there’s high amp drawn motors. They will be able to see this all visually.
We’re actually trying to protect our customers and ourselves by creating the intelligence at the pump that can not only alert them but also alert us. Even a valve like a flow control valve, a certain amount of intelligence in that can also give predictive signs of when a valve is going to fail. They can start to determine when an actuator is starting to act sluggishly or when a seal is starting to fail. ...
I believe it’s not a question of how industry embraces technology. It’s a fact that they must to continue. You’ve got toothbrushes, electric toothbrushes that have Bluetooth in them that tell you when you need to change the head on the toothbrush. Everything we do now can be automated and help us. … We’re trying to help our customers and ourselves by creating the intelligence at the pump that can not only alert them but also alert us.
Q. What trends do you see in different applications such as water?
A. At least in North America for instance, we have hired a VP of sales for municipal wastewater and water industry. We recognize that the trend with water—that it’s a more precious commodity than it’s ever been—is not going to stop and is only going to continue … There is going to be investment in the water and wastewater industry and water conservation areas.
We need to continue to put this topic at the forefront because it’s something that needs to be there, and if they’re not thinking about it now, they’re going to have to think about it later. … Water is not going to be continuing to be as plentiful as it is. We’re going to have to think about it as a precious commodity.