Though the last twelve months presented challenges for several industries, many manufacturers navigated these troubled waters to bring new products to market. For example, Tsurumi America brought its new line of explosion-proof pumps, the Avant series, to North America for the first time. These submersibles, fitted with options for a wide range of wastewater applications, fill a definite need for users looking for reliable dewatering in harsh conditions. Glenn Wieczorek, managing director at Tsurumi, recently appeared on our podcast to fill in the details. An excerpt of that conversation appears below.
MPT: Even in the midst of COVID-19 restrictions, Tsurumi was able to successfully launch the Avant series in Asia early in 2020 and then bring it to the North American market. How has that process been?
Glenn Wieczorek: As you know, 2020 was an unprecedented year. And we’ve been affected by that, like so many other people in so many other industries around the world. Yet, we were successful in launching it first of all earlier this year in some of the Asian markets and here in North America. Initially, the plan was to present at the WEFTEC show—make it really big, you know.
However, last year, of course, WEFTEC was a virtual show, so once we found that out, we weren’t really sure what exposure to expect from that show. But really, surprisingly, we’ve had a lot of interest and a lot of traction already, just through WEFTEC and through the launch to our distributors, because they are taking it out to the market themselves and they’re beating that drum for us.
MPT: Any time there’s a new product launch, it’s built on the learning experiences from other industries. What are some of the needs Tsurumi is looking to fill with the Avant series?
Glenn Wieczorek: You’re absolutely correct, and since we have the longevity of both here in the North American market and the worldwide market, a lot of those experiences have gone into this. Our experience is especially safe for the dewatering side. And when you look at applications in the mining industry, we’re very, very active. And we’ve been very active in that for a long time, as our pumps have been designed to handle those really tough applications. Frankly, you’re not going to find any applications that are more difficult than mining.
From mining and tunneling and construction, we have a lot of experience with what it takes to have a robust pump and a robust design. So that was all put into there. We took that experience and a lot of those same features, as well as some of the other features that are well known on Tsurumi, and placed them in this product range as well. We feel very confident that we’re going to be able to bring to the market a very robust product, as robust as any that Tsurumi has ever built.
MPT: How does the Avant series conform to the current efficiency requirements?
Glenn Wieczorek: They are all standard with the IE3 premium efficiency motors. As you’re aware, new standards have been put into place for many applications, requiring those premium efficiency motors. If customers didn’t necessarily always have that available on some previous models, we’re now going to be able to go with a pump that offers that across the whole product line. So that no longer should be a concern for anybody. Plus, the biggest advantage is that it lowers the cost of operating these pumps.
In addition to that, all of these are explosion proof, and our horsepower range goes from 4 to 275, which means we’re going to be able to reach a very broad range of different applications. All told, that translates to our being able to offer more to our customers.
To listen to an extended version of this interview, be sure to subscribe to MPT’s podcast, The Efficiency Point.
MODERN PUMPING TODAY, February 2021
Did you enjoy this article?
Subscribe to the FREE Digital Edition of Modern Pumping Today Magazine!
