With industries adopting new technology and industries across globe sourcing pumps from India from the last 70 years, pumps have become intelligent and help a user to derive analysis of its usage for efficient operation. Advances like VFD (variable frequency drives) have revolutionised traditional pumps. The usage of it has moved from just agriculture to construction and from industries to equipment. In this article, Pushkar Oak delves into key trends in the Indian pump industry.

Economy of the country and its GDP comprises contributions from agriculture, industry, and services. Pumps are important in all these. Status of the industry depends very much upon the economic conditions of these sectors. Parameters of economics of these sectors themselves are different.

In the agricultural sector, uncertainty of monsoon, availability, quality, and reliability of power and purchasing capacity of the farmers influence the pump industry. In the industrial sector, the investment climate is a major influencing factor. The market for pumps consists of project requirements and replacement demand. Major influencing factor is of project-requirements and that depends upon investment climate.

In the services sector, the major influencing factor is the pace of governmental initiatives, especially for infrastructure projects, such as of power-generation, water supply, sewerage, transportation, etc.

Digital technologies are changing the world at lightning speeds. Internet of Things (IoT) has paved the way to develop intelligent and connected devices. IoT is all about generating, collecting, processing data, and making intelligent decisions based on the data collected. By using data to create better insights, businesses can make fast and accurate decisions. Some of the popular applications in the pump industry are such as enhancing energy efficiency; remote monitoring of pump systems; controlling pumping applications; and predicting maintenance. 

Siddharth Desai, Director, Kishor Pumps, points out, “As IoT devices can collect, analyse, and exchange data in real-time, they can help pump operators make intelligent decisions based on both historical and real-time data. Sensors used in IoT-based applications are driving smart solutions. Armed with powerful analytics, and the ability to aggregate and analyse data, pump operators can enhance productivity; reduce energy costs; minimize downtime; improve the reliability of the system.”

IoT provides actionable insights using data collected. These actionable insights help drive efficiency, reduce operational costs, and increase uptime.

IoT sensors can predict pump failure ahead of time. Additionally, these sensors can track equipment performance metrics in real-time. Thus, helping to make informed decisions regarding the pump systems like – when to replace, which parts require replacement, and other budgetary decisions.

IoT opens up a treasure trove of information to pump manufacturers like – real-time data on failure modes of pump components. IoT connects smart devices like sensors, VFD (variable frequency drives), and controls to the pump network. These devices collect and track data in real-time, providing manufacturers with a complete picture of the pump system. Everything from – how, why, when – regarding the system is available to manufacturers.

Using this data, manufacturers can understand how pumps operate in expected and unexpected conditions. This helps to predict market trends and make reliable pump systems that cater to customer needs. Additionally, with real-time monitoring in place, manufacturers can troubleshoot and diagnose potential problems before they become a significant issue.

Vikas Agarwal, Vice President & Business Sector Head-Water & Irrigation, Kirloskar Brothers Limited, expresses, “One of the biggest challenges for pump distributors is to increase aftermarket sales. IoT can help in addressing this challenge with the help of connected controls, pumps, and sensors. To give an example, let's say, you deploy a modern VFD along with a pump system. The drive collects health data from the system, and with the help of analytics, can predict when the seal is about to fail. The system sends an automated notification to the pump operator. It can even place orders for the replacement part with the distributor. All of this happens automatically, without any human interference. The pump operator enjoys increased uptime, while the distributor sees an increase in revenue, thanks to increased aftermarket sales.”

Pump downtime is the biggest challenge faced by pump owners today. Unexpected downtime can disrupt entire operations, causing pump owners to shut down the 

whole system.

Rise in infrastructure projects, construction, railways, and industries is a boon to the pump industry. However, there is always a regular demand in the agricultural segment. With new technology, pumps also have evolved. Equipment used in the logistics, mining, construction on rise. This becomes a dwelling market for the pump industry in any country. These pumps also have OEM demand across the globe. 

 

Energy-efficiency of pumps should not be looked at as the ability of the pump to show reduced energy bills. It is essential to note that a good pump in a bad system cannot be as energy-efficient as it should or can be. Yet, it is not illogical to demand the pumps to be energy-efficient by themselves. If the system is good and the pump also energy-efficient, it becomes the most appealing and satisfying achievement.

The subject is a matter of concern, specifically in the agricultural sector, where the user, the farmer is not literate, much less, pump-literate. The farmer also pays almost nothing for the energy consumed for agricultural pumping. It was possible with these considerations, that BEE took the initiative to evolve a star-labeling scheme for agricultural pumps. Unfortunately, the scheme is still having too many pit-falls and hence has not been able to make an impact in the market-place.

“In industries pumps are procured, installed, and run with quite some technical manpower involved at all stages. Yet any number of pumping systems in industries may not be as energy-efficient as they can or should be. In most cases, the engineering personnel are not adequately ‘pump-literate’. In industrial pumping, demand for reliability may often cause compromise with the need for energy-efficiency. Even the standard API-610 has been mentioning ‘efficiency’ not being the all-important criterion,” states Desai.

The pumps, an integral part of the action, is not merely restricted to carry out its task but is generally part of a bigger system. Studies have observed that various pump manufacturers are currently giving solutions at large rather than just a pump. The complete solutions are worked out which involves intelligent pumps and a data monitor room where all the activities are controlled. This is a trending arena for solution providers. 

When a complete solution is provided, the company can tweak sets of pumps on various locations to achieve efficiency, be it through energy or the process. Providing a solution is beneficial as the users need not follow maintenance as the company provides regular updates on wear and tear and changes required. Also, this becomes a case study for the pump manufacturer to develop a better solution with more loaded features.

In the end, there have been various technologies involved to make products better but approach decides what and how the innovation is driven. This is an era of customisation through structured or tailored solutions. There are a wide range of opportunities to explore in India as there will be a local market boom and Indian manufacturers shall be ready to export once the movement of goods open up globally.

One of the biggest challenges for pump distributors is to increase aftermarket sales. IoT can help in addressing this challenge with the help of connected controls, pumps, and sensors.