Link February 2017 | Page 29

Manufacturing & Retail

News in addition to small and medium-sized factories .

Launches Its First CRN Pumps Assembly Line in the Middle East

Grundfos , the awardwinning world leader in advanced pump solutions , recently launched its first assembly line for CRN pumps in the Middle East . The opening of the assembly line located at the company ’ s facilities in Jebel Ali in Dubai comes following an extensive feasibility study that examined numerous product types .

In his remarks on the launch of the assembly line ; Stewart Procter , Grundfos Senior Director Operations & Customer Service , Middle East noted : “ Exceeding our client ’ s expectations is a main component of Grundfos philosophy . Therefore , and
in order to maintain the maximum flexibility for our 13 countries , we recommended that the CRN pumps should be assembled in Grundfos facilities in the UAE rather than keeping finished stock units . The recommendations were approved by the Group ’ s headquarters .”
He continued : “ The study we undertook concluded that we can increase sales of our CRN1-45 by 350 units in the first year alone . In case we applied further improvements and adhered to the set plans , this number could remarkably rise to an extra 2600 units by the fifth year .”
Notably , the approval for the assembly line was received at the end of August and the execution phase began through the VPC ( Verification of product conformity ) process immediately after . A small team in Grundfos was formed and included several departments such as the Product Management , Engineering , CSU ( customer support unit ), Quality and Production , along with several colleagues from the
Group who provided help , guidance and the ultimate approval of the VPC .
The optimum mix of components had to be determined , ordered and shipped which takes six weeks transit time from Europe to Grundfos facilities in Jebel Ali . Various improvements to the test bed were made ; lots of SAP data were entered ; training sessions were organized ; and production tools , printers , shelves and lifting tables were ordered as well .
“ Whilst I would like to say it was a smooth process throughout the VPC . We did have several minor hiccups that were easily dealt with by our expert teams , and the first 14 pumps were ready by mid-December , and we were able to take some along to our Christmas party on 22nd December . “ We can say now that we ’ re all set to start selling , 2017 started off with the first official GGDassembled CRN order for one of our OEM customers ,” concluded Procter .
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