Jordan Marsh, the recently appointed national sales manager for Integrated Pump Technology, talks about the company’s geographic footprint, the operating philosophy of its distributor base and some of the reasons why Grindex Pumps have become a preferred solution for mining applications across South and sub-Saharan Africa.
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Originally established as the official distributor for Grindex Pumps in sub-Saharan Africa in 2014, Integrated Pump Technology now has a large installed base across all of the mining regions of sub-Saharan Africa. “On the Grindex range, our focus is on mine drainage and slurry applications, in South Africa as well as north of our borders,” begins the company’s new national sales manager, Jordan Marsh, who was appointed to the role on January 1, 2021. A key aspect to this growth is the company’s distribution philosophy, which strives to maximise the local support available to operators of its pumps: “Since 2014, we have been developing a skills-based distributor network. This involves putting pumping specialists into all major mining areas, people who are able to support our mining customers via a local and accessible hub,” Marsh explains.
“Technically trained sales representatives with knowledge of the local people, problems and needs are chosen to deliver our offering on a best fit for purpose basis,” he continues. “From our premises in Jet Park, near the OR Tambo Airport in South Africa, we then offer higher-level support to ensure that each local distributor is able to deliver local backup, maintenance and technical service support at the levels needed by mine operators. We strive to empower each distributor to provide a rapid after sales service response so as to keep our Grindex pumps delivering as required and preferred by everyone who uses them,” he adds.
Members of the distributor network sign agreements with Integrated Pump Technology year on year which specify the services that will be offered locally and the support each distributor can expect from the Jet Park facility. “We prefer our pumps to be serviced and repaired locally, so we strive to find distributors with repair workshops and a test bay, so the pumps can be looked after properly, repaired and refurbished to the original specifications and tested to maintain the high standards expected of the Grindex brand.
“We also keep exceptionally high stocking levels of all wear parts and spares for every pump in our range, which usually enables us to deliver to our distributors on a next day basis,” Marsh tells MechChem Africa.
“There are always some repairs that are too large or complex to be handled in smaller workshops, though, so we make our large workshop here in Jet Park available for any repair that cannot be completed locally. As well as being able to repair the full Grindex range, we can service almost any other pump brands, including all other high-end Swedish pumps.
Marsh assures that Integrated Pump Technology’s Grindex distributors are compliant with B-BBEE initiatives and committed to conforming with the current localisation requirements of the Mining Charter. “We have also initiated onsite pump and technical training for our distributors and for end users. This includes routine operation and maintenance requirements as well as the local refurbishment of worn pumps.
“We see this as part of our responsibility to transfer skills to local people and to raise their employment prospects. Many of the pumps in mines are not being used very effectively, and by pointing out how this can be improved and upskilling local pump operators to realise how a pump’s performance can be optimised, mines can become a little more sustainable, which enables them to support more jobs,” he says, adding that basic pump knowledge can go a long way in this regard.
Best fit for purpose solutions
“Grindex pumps are the Rolls Royce of the industry,” Marsh believes, as is evident from the 30-month warranty offered with every new Grindex purchase. “This, we find, gives a high level of confidence to mining engineers with respect to quality and value for money,” he notes.
He says that Integrated Pump Technology is able to identify a pump solution for almost every mining application it encounters. “For dewatering, we can offer pumps with twin impellers that offer very high heads – up to 200 m – for pumping water from deep underground. Our biggest is a 90 kW and we go down to 0.75 kW units. For below ground use from multiple mine stopes, 5.5 to
37 kW pumps with high head H-impellers are preferred, while closer to the surface, we can use the 90 kW Grindex high flow pump units with N-impellers to transport the water out of the mine and into surface storage facilities,” he explains.
Adding to the suitability of the submersible pump range for the harsh conditions of African mines, he says Grindex pumps in the power range of up to 18 kW have their own built-in smart device for self-monitoring, which protects against phase rotation, dry running and overheating. “This is a huge advantage in remote underground situations where access is difficult,” notes Marsh.
Every mine, however, requires a different solution with respect to dewatering, water transfer or slurry. “We see our role as developing pumping solutions that are perfectly tailored to a mine’s needs,” he assures. “We then present mine managers with the cost effectiveness of the solution we have identified, typically breaking down the total lifecycle or ownership costs based on efficiency, performance, life and reliability gains. This enables users to do a like-for-like comparison of our Grindex solutions compared to an existing installation or to a less well engineered, and therefore cheaper, alternative.
“We recently compared one of our Grindex submersible pumps to a vertical spindle solution for a dewatering application, for example. Mostly due to the significantly longer life and a much lower installation cost of using a Grindex submersible pump, the total cost of ownership of the Grindex solution was 51% lower than the vertical spindle option, making it easy for us to present a convincing argument,” Marsh relates.
A good fit Grindex solution in many mining applications will usually deliver significantly better energy efficiency and, because energy costs of pumps outweigh initial purchase costs, this rapidly reduces the total cost of ownership. “For a recent application in Polokwane, for example, we looked at our Grindex Bravo 600 22 kW pump as a replacement for a currently installed 30 kW submersible. Our 22 kW pump performs at the same duty as the current pump, but it draws over 25% less power, so it is much more energy efficient. Adding to this, as with all Grindex Bravo pumps from 400 up, this pump has a built-in cooling jacket, which means that the Bravo 600 does not need to be fully submerged for the pump to be effectively cooled.
“In this operation, the operator cannot keep an eye on it 24/7, so the water level often drops below the safe level for keeping the pump cool. We think our pump, being more rugged and better cooled, can solve a whole lot of the problems they are experiencing. Most importantly, though, the improved energy efficiency will reduce electricity consumption, which will result in a TCO saving of 51% over a five year operational period of the pump
“Two of our Bravo 600 units are currently on trial and performing as expected, so we expect this to lead to the steady replacement of the existing fleet with Grindex Bravos over the next few years,” Marsh predicts. “Through our sister company Integrated Pump Rental, we also have a substantial rental fleet, which we can use for demonstrations in situations such as those on a trial basis. This helps to allay purchasing risk concerns and to assure operators that our solutions will deliver as promised,” he adds.
In addition, Integrated Pump Technology has a dedicated engineering team that provides custom-designed solutions for the challenges facing customers. “We pride ourselves on being able to fix problems where others have failed. We are so much more than a pump in a box reseller.
“Going forward, our strategically placed account managers are seeing a lot of potential. Mines still have to operate and many are now looking at performance efficiency opportunities as well as expansion projects and new developments. Our distribution network is ready and waiting to support them in all of these areas,” Marsh concludes.
