In the interview we held, Mr. Selahattin Aydın, General Manager of Klaus Union Turkey, answered our questions. Explaining the foundation and development milestones of Klaus Union, Aydın gave information about pumps, pump systems and valves that play an important role in the chemical industry.
First of all, we would like to introduce you to our readers. Can you please tell us about your education life, professional career, personal interests and hobbies?
I was born in 1977 in Izmir. After graduating from High School in İzmir, I graduated from Chemical Engineering Department, Boğaziçi University in 2001. After working at Alfa Laval company for 2 years, I founded Seterm Teknik company in İzmir in 2004.
Alfa Laval made a great contribution to my learning about processes and its equipments. At first, I started with only the plate heat exchanger and separation business in Seterm Teknik, but I searched for answers to the requests about the pump and in 2006 and I first met with Klaus Union and our long-term adventure started.
We made a partnership with Klaus Union in 2020 to take our 14-years partnership to the next level and started production in İzmir.
I am married and have two children. I spend most of my time outside of work with my family. I have been playing guitar in a music group for 4 years and hiking and sports are my weekly routines.
Klaus Union is a company that has been operating in the sector for many years. Could you tell us about the development of Klaus Union from its establishment to the present? Could you tell us about Klaus Union’s structuring and activities in Turkey?
Klaus Union, founded by F.Klaus in 1946, introduced the first magnetic driven pump at ACHEMA in 1955. After establishing the valve factory in 1957, he combined both pump and valve factories in Bochum, Germany.
After producing magnetic driven pumps in accordance with ISO 2858 standards, it has become the company that sells this type of pumps to the chemical industry the best. After producing the largest magnetic driven pump with a flow rate of 3500 m3/h in 2003, it started to produce the SLM AVP series in API 685 norm.
Production capacity was increased by launching its second factory after starting the production of twin screw pumps in 2012. In 2020, the supply of centrifugal pumps with mechanical seals in API 610 norm has also started.
During the pandemic, when investments stopped, Klaus Union GmbH decided to invest in Turkey and established the Klaus Union Türkiye factory in 2021. As Klaus Union Türkiye; the production of chemical industrial pumps with mechanical seals in accordance with the ISO 2858 standard is carried out in the factory in Kemalpaşa, İzmir, which is located on an area of 1250 m2 for now. We have the capacity to produce 800-1000 pumps per year.
Our NOV-T model mechanical seal pumps; works in chemical, mining, petrochemical and power plants. As a standard, we can deliver pumps with 1.4408 material in a short time, depending on stock status. Apart from 1.4408 material, we can also provide 1.0619, 9.4539 (904L), 1.4409 material options.
We know that Klaus Union is particularly active in the field of pumps and valves. How do these systems play a role in the chemical industries, what kind of solutions do you produce as Klaus Union with your products?
We supply pumps, pump systems and valves to many different sectors. Our main customers consist of the chemical industry. Corrosive applications where it is difficult to use mechanical seal thanks to magnetic driven pumps; we can offer solutions for the transfer
of explosive and toxic chemicals.
We can proceed with heating jacketed solutions for temperature-sensitive processes, and special alloy materials at points where corrosion can be intense.
We manufacture centrifugal pumps with single or double mechanical seal in ISO 2858 standard for chemical or condensate transfer. We manufacture closed impeller pumps for clean fluids and open impeller pumps for particle containing fluids.
We can offer pump solutions for the transfer of ammonia, methanol, ethanol, kerosene, organic chemicals, special chemicals, acid solutions, heating oils, refrigerants, cyanide solutions, etc… We can provide ATEX certificate for both the pump and the complete pump.
What kind of innovations and R&D activities do you carry out as Klaus Union? Could you please give information about the technologies you have developed?
Both in Turkey and globally; we work very actively at the points required by special solutions. For example, for applications very close to the boiling point; we manufacture the isolation shell of magnetic driven pumps using different materials.
By modeling the fluid in the pump, we can calculate the point heating. In fact, every special project is a new R&D study for us. In Turkey, we are working on the ERP we have used in
order to ensure full traceability.
We are making new developments with our consultants so that every moment of production can be monitored and processes are shortened. Finally, the test setup and software in our factory are made in-house. In this way, all the conditions required by the standards have been met, we can reach the values that the pumps will give in real operation and we give a guarantee to our customers.
Could you give information about your strategies for the future? What kind of investments do you plan to make in the near and long term? What criteria do you prioritize while making these plans?
First of all, our biggest goal is to increase both the quantity and the number of models we produce in our factory in Turkey. While doing this, we planned our necessary investments in order not to compromise on quality and to maintain traceability.
At first, we increased the capacity of our test setup from 350 m3/h to 900 m3/h. For this, we increased the capacity of our test motors and ordered new control valves. We have added 904L material pumps to the 1.4408 material pumps we produce as standard, and we are making preparations for pumps with different materials in the future.
We are increasing our stocks in order to provide fast returns to our customers. By keeping
track of the raw materials, semi-finished products and finished materials we keep in our stocks, we also increase the capacity depending on the requests of our customers.
Our biggest investment is in our employees. 80% of our team consists of engineers. We plan trainings for their development and proceed according to the planned program. In order for our team to remain dynamic and to maintain their excitement, we listen to their demands one-on-one and take actions that we can take.
We have a transparent management approach because we know how important feedback is. When we look at our plans, you can see that our biggest criterion is human and customer satisfaction. Although we produce mechanical equipment, as Klaus Union family, we look at the pumps we produce as products that will contribute to living systems rather
than as equipment, and we plan all our investments in this way.
