Hüdig GmbH & Co. KG is a medium-sized company, which was founded in 1902 in Berlin. Since 1957 their head office is located in Celle. With over 70 years of experience in mechanical engineering, the company is one of the leading suppliers of dewatering systems and irrigation machines, this is reflected by their long-term satisfied customers, who are convinced of the high quality and longevity of their machines.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
HÜDIG: Our main focus is in the construction industry particularly in wellpoint dewatering and in the agricultural irrigation. We have business relations with customers and distributors all over the world. Primarily in Europe, however also in other countries such as: USA, Canada, Kazakhstan, Australia and in the Middle East.
E.E: What’s the news for 2021 about new products?
HÜDIG: We are in the process of digitalizing the control of our pump units and irrigation machines. In our private life we are all digitally connected and our customers are requested this more and more for the products they use from Hüdig. Our customers will be able to monitor and control their Hüdig fleet comfortably via smartphone. This goes along with digitalizing our brochures, spare part list and operation manuals. Furthermore, we created several tutorial videos on how to maintain and repair our products.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
HÜDIG: For the dewatering of groundwater, we offer a wide range of:
- Vacuum Assisted Dewatering Pumps;
- Waste water and Sludge Submersible Pumps;
- Vacuum Assisted Sewage Units;
- Piston Pumps;
- Diesel Gen-Set;
In addition, we provide for the agricultural irrigation:
- Irrigation machines;
- irrigation Pump Units;
- Flat Hose Reels for Irrigation and Slurry;
Our product program is rounded up by various equipment, such as:
- PVC, PE and Rubber Hoses;
- PVC, PE and Steel Pipes;
- Quick Coupling Parts;
- Further Accessories for Wellpoint Dewatering.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
HÜDIG: Germany has been experiencing a building boom for several years. The industry has been growing continuously ever since. Despite the ongoing pandemic, there has been no shutdown in the branch. There were only delivery delays in some sectors. But there is a positive outlook for residential construction in 2021. In conclusion, the German market can be regarded as saturated – we do not expect any major market growth here. However, we are pioneering work in markets such as North America, where our dewatering technology is particularly well received because it works very efficiently compared to other market players.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
HÜDIG: The trend in the dewatering branch is that the customers rely more and more on electric power than on the diesel fuel. A big focus, of course, is the efficiency and speed of the pumps. Customers are looking for pumps that can move as much water as possible in a short amount of time and with the least amount of energy. In addition, projects in cities with residential areas have grown exponentially. More and more people are moving from the small towns and villages to the cities and metropolitan areas. Noise is always an issue here and especially within the EU this has become a sensitive topic. In order to counter the noise pollution of the pumps, the pumps can be installed in a sound absorbing hood at the request of the customer. Hüdig offers different type of dewatering units for the different application purposes: diesel or electric. Of course, we are constantly optimizing our pumps so that we can respond precisely to our customers’ requirements.
Another big topic is the digitalization. More and more customers would like to be able to control and check the products easily by their mobile phone.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
HÜDIG: One of our most innovative products are our HC400 series (vacuum assisted electric pumps) which stand out for their high efficiency. The water is drawn in by a vacuum that fills the tank. Meanwhile, electrodes are measuring the water level in the tank. When the tank is full, the powerful pumps suck the tank empty. Thus, there is no risk of the pumps running dry. If the pumps run dry, there is no danger, because the pumps do not suffer if they do not take in any water for a while.
To the point above, that the customers want to be able to check their aggregates easily with their mobile phones, we offer a device, which can be attached to the aggregate. The HÜDIG Remote Maintenance (HCRM) is a system control with integrated maintenance and monitoring function. Not only simple status SMS messages are sent, but entire data reports can even be retrieved. This is achieved by a server-supported data administration, where the customers have separate access to the data. All that is needed is access to the Internet without any app.
The HCRM gives for example information about:
- The volume flow;
- The vacuum;
- The operating hours with the next service intervals;
- Location reports;
- All error and warning signals and more.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2021?
HÜDIG: 2020 was a truly challenging year for any industry. We are lucky that our company was not really affected by the pandemic. In fact, last year was one of our better performing years, only our export sales decreased dramatically. We are looking positively into the future for the new year. We want to continue last year’s strong performance and maintain our strong presence in the market. Slowly the export business is starting again due to some big contracts we could win in the first quarter. We strive to maintain this performance and further expand the export business.