News
29-10-2015
Partnership heating up
For more than 50 years, the Japanese company Miura has produced some of the world’s best industrial boilers. And for years, the boilers have been equipped with efficient pumps from Grundfos such as the CR. Recently the two companies decided to extend their customer-supplier relationship when they signed a global framework agreement.
“We have been using Grundfos pumps for a long time, but dealing directly with the various local subsidiaries or distributors. With the agreement, we get business aligned and can operate similarly across borders within for instance lead time and after sales service,” says Taiji Izumi, Manager in Miura’s Global Procurement Department, who in cooperation with Tomohisa Takeda, General Manager for Miura’s Global Procurement Department worked hard on getting the agreement to fall into place.
It makes Grundfos the preferred pump supplier for Miura’s overseas production, and according to Taiji Izumi, a deciding factor for the deepening of the relationship lies in the fact that Grundfos is a global company with a capability of supplying the same quality and support everywhere.
Asia first – then the world
The agreement initially encompasses all Miura’s Asian business, but the companies are already jointly exploring the possibility of expanding it.
“In the future, we expect to expand the area covered by this agreement further to include the Americas region,” says Taiji Izumi and continues:
“We would like to add to our strong business relationship with Grundfos, for instance by collaborating on developing new projects together,” says Taiji Izumi.
In addition to Grundfos’ global presence and accompanying global service network, a deciding factor for Miura was the attributes of the Grundfos products used in their boilers, as well as our general way of thinking.
“Our aim is to be an environmentally friendly company by developing new products and systems which are very energy efficient. As we see it, Grundfos’ aim is the same as ours,” adds Tomohisa Takeda.
Land and sea
On behalf of Grundfos, Ole Gerlich, Group Director for Global Direct Accounts and Eric Lai, Regional Business Director, Industry in Asia/Pacific, have played important roles in getting the agreement into place. And according to Ole Gerlich, there is plenty of upside to the partnership.
“We’re very happy to join this partnership. Miura is a valued customer, and by strengthening our ties with them, our solutions can come into play on a larger scale than before. We are also looking into other areas where we can do more together,” says Ole Gerlich and adds:
“Our partnership may well include more than boilers. Miura is an important player on the market for shipboard ballast water treatment systems, and our pumps can make a difference in this area too.”