Engine manufacturer Cummins is strategically targeting the dewatering pumps market in Africa and the Middle East using a two-pronged approach by working with original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and end-users.

“We see a lot of opportunity in the pumps sector, with much room for growth. Pumps, as a market segment, is that in which we aim to increase market share,” Cummins Africa and Middle East engine sales specialist Rhea Harripersadh tells Mining Weekly.

“From a Cummins engine business unit perspective, we have developed strategic initiatives to grow the pumps segment,” Harripersadh explains.

In addition to dewatering pump applications used in mining and construction, Cummins is growing its footprint in the pump sectors for firefighting and irrigation application and offers certifications such as Underwriters Laboratory and Factory Mutual, as well as National Fire Protection Association 20.

The Ghana Reposer Project

Last year, the Cummins Ghana technical team, in collaboration with the on-site service support team, account manager and West Africa territory manager, combined their expertise to successfully carry out the repowering of five dewatering pumps for mining contractor BCM at gold mining company Goldfields’ site in Tarkwa, Ghana.

The dewatering pumps are used for pumping water in a 24-hour dewatering mine pit.

Before the repowering, the customer had to deal with product failures and support challenges, which resulted in Cummins Ghana being approached for product options.

The initial plan was to provide a “like-for-like” engine option for the competitor electronic engine that powered a Sykes water pump, explains Cummins Ghana West regional leader Joshua Cobbah.

“We initially settled on a QSX15 electronic engine for the repower. However, after thoroughly reviewing the customer’s requirements and expectations of product reliability and equipment uptime, the final strategy was to provide an NTA855 mechanical engine.”

The NTA855 mechanical engine is a fully-packaged plug-and-play power unit, consisting of the engine, cooling pack, control panel, exhaust muffler and base frame.

“The plan was to give the customer not just an engine, but a complete pump power pack. At first, the customer requested one engine for trial, but after viewing pictures of the complete power pack on offer, increased the order to seven engines, which we have supplied. The customer found our price to be more competitive than other offerings in the market,” Cobbah claims.

Despite the technical challenges faced at the outset, the project served to diversify Cummins’ product coverage at the mining site and in West Africa, providing customers with more options for their pump-engine solutions.

This project gave Cummins the opportunity to market itself as an industrial pump-engine solutions provider to other mining customers in the region by displaying strong product and engineering capability, Harripersadh explains.

More Growth Opportunities

“There is much more opportunity in West Africa. The repower project in Ghana was merely a first step, after which we realised that we could continue engaging, promoting and marketing ourselves to other mining customers in that region, thereby enhancing our relationships with end-users in the mining sector,” Harripersadh says.

She explains that Cummins is also dedicated to supporting not only dewatering pump end-users but also OEMs across the Africa and Middle East region.

She adds that Cummins’ strategic inventory, and parts and service network, along with its trained technicians, further ensures reliable support throughout the African and Middle East regions.

“Standard package design ensures that we have a fast production lead time. Through key account planning, we can ensure that we [have sufficient] stock,” she concludes.