Growth plans for ITT’s business in the region include the establishment of a water and wastewater treatment center of excellence in Singapore, establishment of a greater sales and distribution footprint and new regional testing and assembly capabilities.
“These plans are part of a long-term commitment to growth in the Asia-Pacific region, which we believe can be accelerated by getting closer to our customers in the region and providing them with the best range of critical technologies and deepest industry expertise in the market,” says Gretchen McClain, president of ITT Fluid and Motion Control. “Our continued investments in the region will help us to keep expanding our business in key Asian emerging markets, which is an important growth area for us today and in the future as we spin off from ITT to form an independent water company later this year."
In response to growing demand for advanced wastewater treatment solutions, ITT’s Water and Wastewater group will establish a hub in Singapore to support the sales, engineering design and project execution needs of customers throughout Asia-Pacific. The support team, consisting of applications, process and project engineers, will combine ITT’s deep process and systems expertise with the company’s leading water and wastewater treatment technologies including Flygt mixers, Leopold filtration systems, Sanitaire biological treatment solutions, and WEDECO disinfection systems to help customers meet increasingly high standards for water quality.
The Singapore team also will oversee ITT’s partnership with PUB, Singapore’s national water agency, to collaborate in the areas of energy-efficient pumping and secondary wastewater treatment.
Expanding Footprint in Asia
To support growth in Southeast Asia, ITT announced that its Water and Wastewater group would establish a sales and customer support capability in Hanoi, Vietnam by year-end. The team in Vietnam will provide direct support for local distributors leading to better service for customers in the region, including the Hanoi municipal government and the many design consultants and engineers based in the region. The Vietnam office will have responsibility for sales of ITT’s Flygt, Godwin, Leopold, Sanitaire and Wedeco brands, which include products used in all facets of water and wastewater transport, treatment and processing.The opening of the office in Vietnam follows ITT’s buyout of its distribution partner in Malaysia and Singapore in September 2010, and greatly enhances the company’s coverage in this growing market.
ITT’s Residential and Commercial Water group, which provides complete water systems for applications in the building services, agricultural and light industrial markets, also is growing its presence in Asia. The business has recently added a warehousing facility in Korea, sales and manufacturing personnel in the Philippines, and representative offices in Taipei, Taiwan and Bangkok, Thailand.
Expanding Local Assembly and Testing in Australia
With the growing demand for dewatering services in Asia-Pacific, ITT will establish a pump assembly and service capability in Perth, Australia in order to better meet local customer needs. Dewatering services are essential for maintaining operations in the mining, construction and municipal markets, where the dynamics of energy production and global climate change are driving demand.In 2010, ITT purchased Godwin Pumps, the world’s largest supplier of diesel-powered, self-priming drainage pumps. When combined with the company’s range of Flygt-brand electric submersible drainage pumps, ITT now is the world’s largest supplier of pumps and services for the dewatering market. Demand for the Godwin product range, which is available through ITT’s Water and Wastewater group globally, has been particularly robust in Australia since being introduced earlier this year. Local assembly will enhance ITT’s ability to meet customer expectations in terms of service, availability and lead times.
Additionally, the Residential and Commercial Water group continues to increase its local presence in Australia to better support customers’ service and delivery needs. In May, a new pump testing facility was installed in Melbourne. The facility is designed for ISO 9906-1999 Grade 2 performance testing of head, flow, power, and efficiency for end-suction and turbine pumps.
On Jan. 12, 2011, ITT Corp. announced its intention to spin off its Water and Defense businesses into separate publicly traded companies prior to the end of this year. The new Water Company, yet to be named, will be a global leading provider of products and technologies for water and wastewater; residential and commercial water and analytical instrumentation, with annual revenues of $3.6 billion and customers in 140 countries.
