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Challenges and opportunies in the Brish pumps sector
The BPMA is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. How has the UK pumps market changed since the Association was founded?
Launched in 1941, with the UK in the grip of the Second World War, 2016 marks the 75th anniversary of the Brish Pump Manufacturers’ Associaon (BPMA). BSEE Editor, Debbie Eales, asks the Associaon’s new President, Peter Reynolds, how the industry has changed in that me, what Peter’s themes are for his term in oce, and about the role of the BPMA in lobbying government. Peter is also the Managing Director of Grundfos Pumps.
Q A
The last 75 years have seen enormous change. In recent years, however, the BPMA has moved from being a standalone institution, to adding its weight to Europump – our link into the EU Legislation process. This has allowed us to work closely with, as well as to influence European strategy. In turn, this has led to important new standards that have had a major impact on EU legislation including the instigation of important Directives. The BPMA has taken a lead within Europump to develop a variety of strategies, of particular note is the Energy strategy, which drove the greatest change the industry has seen to date from both a national and European perspective. We also maintain a healthy working relationship and share key information with our American colleagues, the Hydraulic Institute.
Q A
Tell us a little about the role of the BPMA?
The role of the BPMA is to influence the pump sector business environment in the interests of members' competitiveness, standards advice and sustainability and to increase sector awareness by providing technical support and pump technology training to members, operators and purchasers of pumping equipment. The BPMA has four main objectives:
uto be the effective voice of the pump industry; uto satisfy the needs of the members; uto encourage active participation of the members, and
uto maximise the membership of the Association.
The BPMA plays an important role in representing the interests of both the industry and our membership, including advising and influencing governmental thinking. We have been involved in a range of scenarios with various government departments where we have advised, acted as consultants and used our influence to ask questions and seek clarification. This has led to our having many useful dealings
Q A
Does the BPMA have a lobbying role?
within various government departments i.e. Carbon Trust and NMO. One particular area where we have tried to positively influence government has been on the energy savings that can be attained through improved pump selection and the incorporation of newer technological advances.
Q A
What are the current issues facing pump distributors/manufacturers?
There are always challenges! One particular area that has been affecting members of the pump industry is the appearance of economy non-ErP compliant products being imported from non EU countries appearing on the UK market, as these do not necessarily meet any of the standards and could possibly be a health and safety risk.
The BPMA is currently working closely with government bodies to try and assist them to more easily identify these products and work towards stopping such products gaining access in our market.
With climate change – and this Winter’s floods, for example – do you see the pumps market playing an even greater role in our environment?
Q A
Disasters always offer certain specialist companies the opportunity to sell products. However there are many more important objectives for us such as helping to reduce the amount of energy pumps use. This is an important aspect as pumps consume more electromotive power than any other product on the planet and as such, the industry has been heavily engaged in legislation around the world.
In the UK and Europe the BPMA has been actively involved in the writing and implementation of standards, books, guidelines and working closely with government bodies to ensure energy reduction goals are achieved.
What is the value of the UK pumps market and what have been the key drivers for growth over the last decade?
Q A
The value of the UK pump market is estimated to be c£600 million p.a. and is an important nett exporter. Whilst the Chemical and Petrochemical sectors have been suffering from a decline in more recent times, other sectors have seen steady growth and this trend is expected to continue.
Q A
Are there any barriers to growth and, if so, how can these be overcome?
As with all dynamic markets, barriers to growth can also be seen as opportunities to lead the market by developing pioneering technology. The demand for pumps will continue and increasing tough legislative demands will continue to offer pump manufacturers opportunities to develop new solutions. In short, pumps will always be required but it will increasingly be those that offer inbuilt intelligence and the ability to communicate.
Q A
How has pump technology changed?
Although the main principles behind pumping remain the same, the pumps themselves have changed dramatically, moving from steam and belt driven pumps, to piston pumps before completing a quite dramatic transition to what we see today. Modern pumps are a result of computerised design technology and they are built using high precision engineering processes of manufacture whose improved tolerances have dramatically increased the hydraulic efficiency of pump products. A major focus on energy efficiency use has resulted in increasingly stringent legislation and has seen variable speed driven technology widely incorporated within pump systems. This also means that the existing installed base of pumps can be assessed for their effectiveness and efficiency.
domestic/commercial heating, power generation, industrial processes, etc. Are you seeing any trends emerging in terms of pumps usage across these sectors?
Q A
Customers are constantly looking at ways of improving the reliability, efficiency and profitability of their buildings, plants and processes and the pump sector offers many new technological advances to enable this to be achieved. This has included the introduction of in- built electronics, variable speed technology, smart pumping and the opportunities offered by improved communication such as offered by various BMS (Building Management Systems) protocols.
companies. Is there room for everyone and how does this affect prices?
Q A
22 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER MARCH 2016
The size of the pump sector in the UK has been more or less stable for many years although there is still some growth forecast to 2020. There have been very few new start-up pump manufacturers in recent years and for the last 30 years, many of the larger, often multi- national corporate organisations have bought smaller companies. However, we are seeing niche
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The UK pumps market is hugely competitive, with a large number of blue chip
Pumps are used across a variety of sectors – oil and gas, water and sewage,
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