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A lead-time in world class

Sherwood Forest is among the sights, when driving through the bendy British rural roads towards the Mansfield Pump Service Centre. Inside the workshop, a veritable forest of brand new submersible wastewater pumps cover the entire warehouse floor, as a clear indication of the scale of the new framework between Severn Trent Water and Grundfos.

The referee of wastewater
The water and utility company Severn Trent Water (STW) has a widespread network across England and provides for example sewerage services to 8.7 million people. Senior Category Specialist at STW, Peter Kobryn, stresses that much goes on that the customer does not see:

“For us, really, if our customers don’t pay attention to us on a daily basis, then we are successful. Turning on a tap, clean water comes out. Flush the toilet, wastewater goes away. I often compare it to the referee in football. If nobody notices them, then they are doing a good job. When people are talking about the referee, then there is usually a problem,” he says.

In the beginning of 2015, Grundfos UK were confirmed as the sole framework supplier of all STW’s wastewater submersible pumps up to 69kW, along with the relevant spares and accessories for an initial 3-year period, with a 2-year extension option.

New ideas and continuous presence
“From Grundfos, we need reliability and speed in getting us what we need to do our job. And through the whole process, Grundfos has showed that they are willing to not only meet that, but also make suggestions ‘well what about this and what about that’. They added new ideas to the plan,” explains Peter Kobryn.

Key Account Manager at Grundfos, Tony Price, pays a visit to the Pump Service Centre almost every week. Together with his colleague, Area Solutions Engineer Stephen Shlusar, he strives to answer whatever questions the technicians might have about their new products and the applications.

“Presence is crucial. To care truly and to make it show makes a huge difference. There will always be challenges when switching to a new supplier and especially with a large-scale framework like this. But we consistently keep supporting the operators and find solutions to their problems,” says Tony Price.

Financial benefits as a bonus
John Shaw is the manager of the Pump Service Centre and for all his colleagues in STW he is the focal point for pumps. When asked what makes the biggest difference the answer is clear:

“Lead time! I face continuous pressure and demands on my time here and the fact that we have the pumps available right here is great. It is definitely about the day-to-day business of keeping stuff moving. The stuff that might be underestimated, just how important it actually is,” says John Shaw and mentions that at the pump workshop they are seeing the financial benefits on unit costs as well.