Pumps & Systems, July 2007

Positive displacement pumps are known as the poor cousin in the global pumps market. With regard to the two broad product classifications, one being centrifugal and the other positive displacement (PD) pumps, the former dominates with nearly 70.0 percent of the 2006 market share revenues.

Pumps & Systems, August 2007

Conclusion of our look at a new tool that predicts how pumps and systems interact.

Pumps & Systems, July 2007

Q. What is a jet pump? I do not see any reference to it in your standards and would like to learn more about it.

Pumps & Systems, July 2007

The flagship brewery for the world's largest beer producer needs to run 24/7 just to keep up with demand. Since every gallon of beer produced at the InBev facility in Leuven, Belgium, can be sold, any unexpected downtime on a production line means an unrecoverable financial loss for the company. Small wonder the managers of this brewery - which produces 170 million gallons of ale, beer, and other malt beverages each year - do everything in their power to keep the filling lines running flat out.

Pumps & Systems, July 2007

When measuring vibration, one of the most important factors in obtaining accurate information involves selecting the proper vibration transducer. Selecting the wrong vibration transducer can yield results that are misleading or, worse, mask a problem.

Pumps & Systems, May 2007

If you are new to the pump arena, you may be a bit taken back by the number of pump models offered by various pump manufacturers. When you take a look at their performance curves, you will see that they come in a plethora of shapes and sizes.

Last month, we discussed applications of low head axial flow pumps ("Field Testing: Theory vs. Reality," Pumping Prescriptions, May 2007). Knowing your system is very important for these types of units. For example, consider a recent application where neglecting the system caused problems.

The globalization wave, outsourcing surge and the sizzling economies in Asia-Pacific - particularly India and China - create an attractive picture for investments in the pumps market. With its seemingly limitless supply of low manufacturing cost benefits and the favorable investment climate, the Asia-Pacific region has an immeasurable amount of potential.

Pumps & Systems, May 2007

With the recent introduction of a new axial flow pump came a challenge: how to prove to the end user that this pump does, in fact, pump - before it is delivered.

Pumps & Systems, May 2007

How to Talk to Managers

Most financial decisions of any consequence at your facility are made by managers; Plant Managers, Project Managers, Operations Managers, Financial Managers, etc.  If you want to sell your ideas and recommendations to these decision makers, you must learn to talk to them in the financial language they understand.  The most common financial tools for evaluating investment options are net present value, NPV, Payback, and internal rate of return, IRR.  NPV, Payback, and IRR are all acceptable financial measures to aid in the making of economic decisions.  NPV returns a dollar value, Payback returns a duration until investment is recouped, while IRR returns a rate of return value for the investment. All other factors, such as personal preferences and initial cost, should be secondary to these three financial parameters throughout the pump selection process.  This article will address only NPV.