KSB Pumps and Valves went all-out at Nampo’s annual Harvest Day this year with a full complement of technical and business experts to assist farmers with their current and future pumping requirements.
“There is a lot of pressure on farmers to reduce costs and we are concerned that these cost pressures could lead to bad decisions, buying untested or poorly supported pumps and valves from a host of new suppliers in the market. This is why we brought our full team to Nampo to assist end users,” says Hugo du Plessis, market area manager for KSB Pumps and Valves. He adds that farmers were able to engage directly with sales, technical, aftersales support, and logistics teams around real pumping challenges to ensure the right solutions were selected from the start.
“Our well-established sales partners in the irrigation market in South Africa have supported KSB for many years, and will always be our first line of defence to support our product in the market. As an OEM, we strive to support our product and our sales partners with our technology and know-how.”
Irrigation market – solutions for life
“KSB has many thousands of pumps and valves installed in a wide range of applications from irrigation and boreholes to supporting livestock operations, wastewater and many others,” says Keith Hedges, sales manager for valves.
KSB Pumps & Valves offers more than 700 product variants across pumps and valves internationally, supported by local manufacturing at its Germiston plant and a comprehensive branch and dealer network throughout the sub-Saharan Africa region. It has a history in the region that spans more than 100 years, and agriculture has always been a core market.
To celebrate the long involvement in the industry, KSB chose to place its most familiar and long-lived pump, the KSB Etanorm pump, at the centre of this year’s exhibition. This stalwart has supported agricultural pumping for generations and is built on a platform dating back to 1871 where it has remained a dependable workhorse, and formed the foundation on which many of KSB’s newer technologies are built. Improvements have been made over the years by listening to the farmers.
“In many ways, the Etanorm has been the backbone of our agricultural offering and it is a pump that farmers trust. Now, we are extending that reliability into newer, more efficient and application-specific solutions. These include advanced borehole and multi-stage pumps, as well as the Corachrom borehole pump range, engineered for durability under harsh African conditions and able to operate efficiently on solar power where required. Locally produced self-priming pumps for sludge and manure handling along with submersible dewatering units were also on display. “Digitalisation also featured strongly with the KSB Guard which enables farmers to have real-time condition monitoring of pumps, especially in remote or large-scale farming operations,” says du Plessis.
Valves
In addition to pumps, KSB also showcased a focused range of irrigation and water management valves. These included butterfly valves, check and non-return valves, as well as its resilient seated gate valves with elastomer linings which are designed to handle erosion and corrosion.
“There are cheaper options out there, but when you consider total cost of ownership including maintenance, downtime, spares and eventual replacements costs, the KSB solution often works out more cost-effective in the long run,” says Hedges.
“Farmers may think they are saving money upfront, but failures and lack of support quickly change that equation,” adds du Plessis. “With us, you get a durable product that is designed to excel in local conditions, backed by local expertise, and a comprehensive support network. This extends from procurement and installation to ongoing service and support through to eventual repair and refurbishment to OEM-standards.”
Hedges adds: “From a risk perspective, dealing with KSB and their sales partners is a safer option. We can support older installations, supply spares and even manufacture components, and do onsite repairs where needed. It’s a full lifecycle approach.”
The value of KSB’s presence at Nampo ultimately lay in this depth of capability. With both pump and valve specialists on hand, farmers could engage in detailed discussions around system design, material selection and application-specific challenges, ensuring the right solution from the outset.
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