Gene Vogel
EASA Pump & Vibration Specialist
When EASA adopted the slogan “The Electro-Mechanical Authority,” it was more than a superficial initiative. While electric motor repair is a core business for the vast majority of EASA service centers, rotating machinery of all types are a significant segment of service centers’ repair business and overall profitability. Next to electric motors, roto-dynamic pumps (centrifugal and axial flow pumps) are the largest single category of machines repaired in EASA service centers. The reasons for the expansion into the pump repair segment are clearly evident:
- Pumps are expensive machines and are not frequently built to standardized dimensions.Standard NEMA and IEC electric motors arecommodity items with little differentiation between manufacturers. But pumps aremuch less standardized. No standard framesizes exist for two of the most common style pumps – submersible pumps and vertical turbine pumps.
- In many applications, the heart of the pump,the impeller, is specially trimmed to match that application. Replacement requires longlead time, making repair a much more viable option.
- Major segments of pump applications aresecure during times of economic recession. Municipal water, wastewater and flood control have stable funding and demand.
EASA service centers looking for options for expansion, or to replace evaporating existing electric motor repair markets, have seen pump repair as a good fit. A majority of EASA service centers currently repair roto-dynamic pumps. Pumps are by far the largest category of machines driven by electric motors.
If a service center is repairing electric motors, then it is almost certain that some of those motors are driving pumps, and the prospects for pump repair are its existing customers.
How Should an EASA Service Center Transition into the Pump Repair Business?
While some service centers stumble into it by accident (e.g., a customer in a jam needs help with a pump), the support services available to EASA members can be an essential part of developing a successful pump repair segment of your business.
Networking opportunities at the annual EASA Convention and EASA chapter events can provide a real-world look at the pump repair business.
At the technical level, EASA offers training seminars in pump applications, general pump repair and specific repair techniques for submersible and vertical turbine pumps. See a summary of the the offerings available from EASA.
The fact is, pump repair is not much different than the mechanical repairs of electric motors. Fundamentally, pumps are much simpler than electric motors. Technicians need to know about pump seals, axial and radial clearance and thrust concerns; all topics covered in the EASA pump seminars.
The EASA Pump Reliability seminar will be useful for sales and management personnel who need to understand pumps from the customer’s perspective. For those who understand the complexities of induction, synchronous and DC motors, pump repair will be a quick learning curve.
Opportunities for pump repair exist at all levels of machinery size and sophistication. A considerable number of EASA service centers are very successful in the smaller pool and spa sized, close-coupled pumps. The motor may be a stock replacement item, but the pump will be engineered for the specific system, and repair will be the most economical and timely option.
There is an array of commercial and institutional HVAC pump applications; wherever there’s a chiller or a boiler, there’s a pump (or two or three). Municipal water, public and private, employ a range of medium and large-sized pumps. A service center may already have a relationship with these municipal customers for electric motor repair. It may only take a well-planned sales call to open the door to pump repair opportunities.
Pump manufacturers’ authorized repair facilities are the most common competition for the pump repair business. To a smaller degree, there are independent, non-EASA affiliated pump repair companies. As we have seen in other segments of machinery repair, quality workmanship, timely response and the support provided by the EASA organization put EASA service centers in a favorable competitive position. By handling both the pump and motor repair, your customers benefit by dealing with a single source supplier. This simplifies their experierence and positions you as their total solutions provider. Pump repair is an important part of what makes EASA the Electro-Mechanical Authority.
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