The Benchmark

The Eta series is KSB’s best-seller. It has written industrial history as the mother of all standardised pumps.

Name

Although the designation Eta stands for efficiency, it means so much more. The letter E symbolises energy efficiency, T is for technology and A for application versatility – the best features of the Eta series. Its excellent characteristics make Eta a very special product for me – and for numerous satisfied customers. Eta outshines our competitors with better energy efficiency, higher quality and competitive prices. We offer it in both closed-coupled and in-line designs, making it a very versatile product. As it is available in a huge range of different materials, Eta can pump numerous fluids and operate in a wide variety of applications for our customers. These positive features leave me in no doubt that Eta will remain a successful product for KSB in the decades to come.

At KSB in India, we produce around 20,000 pumps per year. This year we expect growth of 20 percent. We have promising sales opportunities on the Asian and especially the Indian market, particularly in water supply, agricultural irrigation, industrial applications, fire-fighting installations and air-conditioning systems.

Due to its excellent efficiency, the standardised pump type series was given the name Eta: ŋ. In the field of technology, this Greek letter stands for efficiency. The series was launched to market in 1935.

Variety

I have been at KSB for 17 years and I know of hardly any other pump that is so rich in variants and thus serves such an enormous spectrum of potential applications. Although it is a standard product, Eta is manufactured exactly to customer specifications. Yet it still has a relatively short delivery time compared with other products on the market. In my work I experience first-hand the quest for solutions across departments and corporate units as we strive to achieve prompt delivery – even with unique, one-off products for specific customers. Eta was one of the first KSB series to be equipped with the KSB Guard pump monitoring unit, and is represented in the new KSBase sales configurator. I also see further development potential in equipping our Eta pumps with automation products. This improves their energy efficiency and enables them to connect to the Internet, for example for use in intelligent building services applications.

The Eta family is one of the most versatile pump type series available anywhere. The variety of available sizes and materials ensures that customers can get exactly the right pump for their specific applications.

Global perspective

Eta is KSB Shanghai’s most important product. I have worked on implementing its manufacture in our factory since 2015, and we have created a very modern production line. Since then, the series has grown substantially in terms of order volume. In 2020, we produced 5,500 Eta pumps ourselves and imported 2,000 units, and manufactured Eta products specially adapted to local requirements.

It is Eta’s wide range of applications in particular that makes it a hit. The pumps are robust and easy to maintain. Our customers are won over with short delivery times and competitive pricing. The positive economic relationship between China and Europe, and the annual investments which this relationship facilitates, offer excellent further sales opportunities for Eta. If KSB continues to develop this product while ensuring consistent quality and short delivery times, then we all stand to benefit.

In 1975, Eta was already being used internationally as an example in negotiations between national standardisation bodies on pump standardisation. To consolidate its leading position, KSB has continued to develop this classic pump. New market requirements and new insights from fluid mechanics and cavitation research as well as from materials and production technology have all been incorporated.

Production

The secret of Eta’s success is the diversity of its variants. We have never focused on a specific area with this product, but have always tried to cover water, building services and industrial applications. Although this greatly increases the complexity of production and logistics, it makes us a little more independent of market fluctuations. Over the years, the departments involved have adapted to this and perfected their approaches. Eta’s sales figures will continue to rise if we focus consistently on customer benefits in the long term. What sets us apart from the competition is the fact that Eta is a higher quality, more efficient pump. This is the added value we offer, and the reason why customers choose our product. Added value does not necessarily have to mean a low price; it can also mean better quality.

Today, we no longer see Eta as a stand-alone pump, but consider it in combination with a high-efficiency motor and an integrated frequency inverter. Since demands on the energy efficiency of pumps are constantly increasing, it makes sense to offer our customers this pump system as a complete package. And this will help to further improve efficiency levels in order to meet demand for increasingly energy-efficient pumps.

In Eta, customers receive a pump that is manufactured by KSB at four production locations in Germany, China, India and South Africa to exactly the same quality and development standards. This makes global procurement considerably easier, and increases the availability of pumps and spare parts.