Case
Romania's largest DIY retailer has peace of mind for fire protection in its buildings
CASE STORY INFO:
Topic: Preventive Maintenance for Firefighting Pumps
Location: Romania, more than 50 locations
Customer: Dedeman home improvement stores
Dedeman is the largest “DIY” home improvement retailer in Romania, supplying tools and construction products from box stores in more than 55 locations. It is one of Romania’s largest employers, with 12,000 employees. All of Dedeman’s shops, warehouses and office buildings are secured with Grundfos fire extinguishing systems for sprinklers and hydrants. But this story is not about the Grundfos pumps. This story is about how Grundfos makes sure those systems are always ready to operate if danger strikes.
A Grundfos Service technician on the way into a biannual fire protection service check at a Dedeman store – Romania’s largest retailer of DIY home improvement products.
The situation
“For Dedeman, it is very important to ensure the highest safety level for its customers, employees and merchandise. The fire protection must be 100% effective. But it is difficult for Dedeman to maintain the fire pump systems in all locations by itself,” says Daniel-Robert Dragomir, Service and Solutions Manager at Grundfos Romania. He says that for many people, the biggest “aha” moment comes when they realize it is not enough to just have a fire protection system in place. “It doesn’t matter if you have the best pumps and accessories. If something is not okay, there will be a big problem,” Daniel-Robert says.
“If we are talking about pumps for heating or water supply, then the impact in case of problems is not so huge. Okay, we will be a few hours or even a day without tap water or heat in your building. But when you are talking about fire, the pumps must work properly. There is no room for any mistake in this system. Everything must be perfect. And unfortunately, many customers are not paying too much attention for those kinds of systems. Millions of euro can be destroyed in seven minutes without a properly working fire system.” Seven Minutes. “There are a lot of bad stories from around the world where buildings were destroyed in minutes because the fire system was not working properly,” he adds. “And so we want to make our customers aware that while they might have the best pumps for fire protection, they need to invest in regular preventative maintenance to make sure that everything will be working perfectly in case of a fire.” Dedeman is aware of this, and the company uses Grundfos Preventive Maintenance for Firefighting Pumps at all of its locations in Romania.
Grundfos supplied
Grundfos Romania supplied a Preventive Maintenance for Firefighting Pumps Service Agreement to Dedeman’s 55+ locations in Romania. For more information about Grundfos Customised Service Agreements, please see here. For more information about Grundfos fire protection pumps, see here.
Contact us for more information via www.grundfos.com/pleasecallus.
A laser alignment tool helps to make sure the pump motor shaft is in line on the Grundfos fire pumps.
The solution
A service agreement for Grundfos Preventive Maintenance for Firefighting Pumps includes one or two visits a year from a Grundfos Service team. The team checks the physical condition of the pumps and related equipment in the system.
“We are testing the equipment. We run simulations via a recirculation test pipe and holding tank to check the automatic start and flow in case of fire. We also check the pump-motor shaft alignment – a sitting pump or the heavy pipes or other factors can cause the pump to settle and the shaft to get out of line. Our laser alignment tool can not only find the smallest misalignment, but it can help us to recommend what action to take to realign the shaft,” Daniel-Robert says.
“We also check the temperature of the pumps and controls to look for small problems. If you only look with your eyes, everything might look perfect, but maybe a small part or the control panel has a problem, and this can show up on a thermal scanner. It’s just like in the airport when you are crossing the gate with the thermal scanner looking for a fever,” he says.
At the end of each service check, the team sends a complete service report with the technical data, status and results of simulations and checks on risk factors, as well as what they recommend for the customer in the near future.
“This recommendation is the most important step,” he says. “In many cases, we discover small things that must be replaced, parts with too much wear, or components that are too old or are not working properly. We recommend what needs to be done for the person or the team taking care of the system on a daily basis.”
Daniel-Robert Dragomir (middle), Service and Solutions Manager at Grundfos Romania, stands with Grundfos service technicians Bogdan Draghici and Dan Meluta inside a Dedeman fire extinguishing systems room.