Alfa Laval recognizes innovative approach

In the Danish city Kolding, one of Alfa Laval’s many competence centres is located. Here focus is primarily on developing solutions to the food industry, but the global department for procurement of pumps to other business areas can also be found in the same building. The company, which specialises in heat transfer, separation and fluid handling, needs a broad variety of pumps and in the hunt for the best solution, Grundfos is frequently asked to develop a solution to answer a specific challenge.

Jan Dohn from Alfa Laval’s Global Strategic Purchasing is handling the partnership with Grundfos, and he can easily describe the collaboration.

“Grundfos has great products, which are very energy efficient. In addition, it has a unique ability to innovate and come up with solutions to our challenges,” he says and emphasizes that the global setup also is an important parameter when cooperating.

A preferred pump supplier
Grundfos ships a wide range of different pumps to Alfa Laval, which includes Alfa Laval’s own factories as well as their subcontractors. Circulators are built into small transfer stations for district heating, while dosing pumps are built into boilers for ships. Just to mention two examples. Other business areas are pumps to transfer and circulate water for solutions within the paper and mining industries.

“Grundfos is a preferred pump supplier, which means that the company has the right products and the knowhow we demand. We have a global purchase agreement, so no matter which business area in Alfa Laval that renews an application or makes a new product, they should find out whether Grundfos can supply them with a product that lives up to the requirements,” Jan Dohn says.

New development projects
Jan Dohn explains that one of the important and appreciated parts of Alfa Laval’s cooperation with Grundfos lies in strong communication between the companies.

“Grundfos does a good job keeping us updated on which of their products, we might be interested in for a given solution. That goes for new developed solutions too, where Grundfos keeps us in the loop from an early stage,” he says.

One of the areas where Grundfos and Alfa Laval have been cooperating very closely for years is in the marine industry. And right now, they have an ongoing development project regarding ballast water. To avoid invasive species to be spread around the world, ballast water must be cleaned before being pumped out, when the ship reaches harbour.

“In this case we have a good example of Grundfos’ innovative approach, where the technicians are changing a pump to fit our requirements,” he says.

Regional Sales Director Ole Gerlich from the Industry segment at Grundfos emphasises that providing customized products, which are energy efficient combined with good service is the key to success.

“Working with business leaders like Alfa Laval makes us stay on our toes. We appreciate the fact that our services have resulted in a Supplier Innovation Award and going forward I am sure that this will boost our future collaboration,” he says.