Grundfos invests major funds each year in research and development of new products, which are then, one by one, thoroughly tested and just then released on the market, because our customers confidence has been a priority for years
The challenges presented to us by the modern way of doing business, as well as ambitions in terms of environmental protection, require that socially responsible companies have a new approach to doing business and new business solutions. We don’t see this as a problem, because innovation and sustainability are part of our DNA ~ says Dušan Durković, Grundfos Country Manager for Serbia & Export.
Without your products we can’t imagine life in villages with a few dozen households or in big cities, because Grundfos pumps are inevitable wherever water needs to be “managed”. What are the applications in which they can be used?
– In Grundfos long-term strategy, we are dedicated to address the challenges linked to climate changes and drinking water shortages worldwide.
Our worldwide presence, as well as our knowhow in different applications, certainly represents great experience, but also an obligation for our products to function flawlessly. We also want to create future development trends to meet our strategic commitment to energy efficiency and sustainable use of water resources. Grundfos pumps secure drinking water for households, regional water supplies, hot radiators in residential buildings and households; they are the best option for flood protection and extremely essential for irrigation applications. Highly indispensable in sewage systems, and furthermore used to heat and cool airports and shopping centres, they are part of industry processes, and they are the heart of fire protection systems etc.
An unbelievable statistic is that a fifth of worlds electricity is used to run pumps and that replacing of existing pumps and implementing energy efficient solutions, that we can offer, could save almost 5% of the total consumption of electricity worldwide
Do you deal only with individual components or do you have solutions for complete systems that encompass pumps, drives, control units and units for protection, measurement and communication?
– Innovation is what Grundfos is and what ensures that we are different. We understand the needs of the market and we meet these needs. Under the name “Grundfos iSOLUTIONS” is everything that’s essential for the optimal system functioning, including pump system control, monitoring, data transfer, communication, control and diagnostics. Growing digitalisation is setting the requirements that we are responding to successfully and implementing new technological solutions, so that our pumps can be monitored in remote locations via GSM, GPRS and the internet. We have successfully tested a pump that orders its own spare parts for replacement. These kinds of digital solutions reduce operating costs and downtime, but Grundfos additionally offers various service solutions to clients with the aim of providing preventative and urgent maintenance.
Preparations for the start of production in Serbia began 10 years ago, when Grundfos purchased construction land in Inđija, and the factory opened in December 2012. Four groups of products are currently produced there. Are they intended exclusively for the domestic market, or is part of production exported?
– We are very proud of our factory, which is one of the most modern, while four groups of pumps imply around a hundred different products and over 4.2 million produced pieces, out of which 220 million euros is exported, which ranks us as the country’s 8th largest exporter. Over 60 million euros has been invested to date, while the latest investment is Biobooster – a facility that fully treats wastewater to the level of drinking water, in accordance with our ambition regarding the sustainable use of water resources.