Globally, customers are looking for smart devices which can integrate hardware with operating systems. These smart systems have state-of-the-art software with electronics to give advance alarms in case of any unexpected failure of the equipment, says Milind Alwekar, CEO and Managing Director of Chemlin Pumps & Valves Pvt Ltd. In this interview, Alwekar, who is also the Sr Vice President (2019-2021) of Indian Pump Manufacturers Association, highlights new trends in pumps industry and growth plans for his company.

 

Brief about Chemlin Pumps & Valves Pvt Ltd

The company, which was established in 1985, started manufacturing centrifugal pumps & valves for chemical & process industry in November 1987. The manufacturing set-up consists of 12,000 sq ft of covered area and total area of about 44,000 sq ft. The manufacturing of pump components is done on machines using specially designed jigs and fixtures, CNC machines. The pump testing is done using state-of-art computerised pump testing arrangement. Some of our major products are vertical submerged type centrifugal pump (sump pumps); horizontal centrifugal process pumps; taper plug valves; orifice gate type jacketed valves; angles valves; etc.Our major customers belong to industries such as fertilisers, steel, chemicals, pharmaceutical, food processing, etc. We are ISO 9001-2015 certified company.

 

Are you seeing a pick-up in demand for your products?

Yes. As compared to previous year, we are getting good enquiries from domestic as well as international customers. The expected growth in sales can be at 12-15 percent year-on-year (YoY).

 

How are you serving the chemical & process industry?

Our products such as centrifugal sump pumps, horizontal centrifugal process pumps and valves are becoming popular with various users due to reliable operation, low in maintenance and prompt availability of spares. Many large scale public and private enterprises have benefitted from our experience of handling difficult and corrosive media effectively. We have helped in indigenisation of many pumping applications in India. Considering our excellent track record, we gradually started receiving response from overseas and now are having clients in 26 countries.

 

What are advantages of disc pumps? Is demand for these pumps increasing in India? 

Disc pumps work on the principles of 'Viscous Drag and Boundary Layer'. In disc pumps, the flow in the casing/disc is near to laminar flow and with less turbulence as compared to other pumping methods. Due to this, erosion reduces drastically thereby increasing life of the pump components. So also, for sensitive media, the disc pumps have very less damaging effect in pumping sensitive emulsions as well as crystal slurries.Disc pumps are presently manufactured by Discflo Corporation in USA. There is a good demand for pumps to handle difficult slurries.

 

What are emerging trends in pump industry? 

Time has arrived for all smart appliances and equipment. Customers all over the world are looking for smart devices which will integrate your hardware with their operating systems. We call them as 'Condition Monitoring Systems' which continuously monitor the performance of the pumps or other process equipment. These smart systems have state-of-the-art software with electronics to give advance alarms in case of any unexpected failure of the equipment.

 

Utilisation of cloud-based technologies to keep track of all developments in new projects or existing multi-location and mobile activities is growing. This is effectively used for monitoring the man and material movements and reducing costs in logistics and storage.Non-conventional energy sources, viz solar energy/power, are now used effectively and in a very large way in different countries having good sunshine for at least 9 months in a year. Government of India is seriously working on promoting solar pumps for agriculture. Indian Pump Manufacturers Association is working closely with the Central as well as State Governments in formulating the BIS Standards for the solar pumping systems. The requirements are expected to be in massive quantities and will have a major shift in the conventional methods being used presently in agriculture.

 

What is present status of industrial pumps market? 

The industrial pumps market has seen an average increase of upto 10 per cent in business in 2019 starting from April 2019 as compared to same period last year.All major pump manufacturers worldwide are setting up their manufacturing bases in India. This is looked upon as an opportunity to Indian producers to upgrade their manufacturing processes as well as design of the products. Many small scale industries have successfully established vendor relations with the large scale brands. India is slowly becoming a manufacturing hub for industrial pumps.

 

What are your growth plans? 

In 2018-19, we upgraded our machining set-up by inducting new CNC machines increasing productivity as well as improving quality of our product. In 2020, we plan to introduce Chemlin disc-type pumps for handling difficult slurries as well as shear sensitive slurries.We are also planning to enter European markets and are looking for strategic alliance with a suitable partner. We are receiving good response for our pumps from African countries. To strengthen our sales efforts, we have appointed our authorised dealer in Morocco. We are also working on appointing dealers in other African countries.