EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Dragflow Export Manager

Dragflow S.r.l. is a world player in solid pumping solutions with over 25 years of experience in manufacturing heavy duty pumps and complete dredging equipment.

Hereby we are bringing you an exclusive interview with Mr. Massimo Contri, Export Manager of Dragflow, who provided us with invaluable insight into Dragflow’s business plans.

When asked about the company’s 2013 business results Mr. Contri stated the following:

The 2013 has been a crucial year because we experienced an important growth in 2012 and the initial target of 2013 was to consolidate the numbers of the previous year. Thanks to the introduction of the new line of high head heavy duty pumps and remote controlled dredges we have instead been able to overtake the results of 2012.

We are therefore very satisfied of the year that has passed because it gave us the evidence that we are on the right path for a stable growth. We have been able to introduce new engineers in the research and development team and we set an ambitious plan of new products for the next 5 year to come.

The first quarter of 2014 has again seen a growth compared to the first quarter of 2013. Latina America, Europe and Australia are in particular the areas that have given the biggest contribution to this result.

We look positively at the rest of the year. We have a backlog of some good projects to deliver, the mining market is giving good signs of recovery and we have plans to enter more deeply into the North American and African markets. We are also about to deliver the new electric excavators and we are working on a revolutionary line of pumps dedicated to some specific mining applications. I cannot reveal more details at the moment about this latter project.

As far as the market is concerned in the medium term we think that one the major risks for world economy are the policies put into place by central banks in the United States, Japan and United Kingdom. An important readjustment, with implication on currency exchanges, is on the horizon and it will have to be properly managed by the international organizations in order to minimize impacts on world economy. On the long term the problems of sustainability of the level of private consumptions, and consequential environmental impacts, will be the biggest challenge that all our societies will have to face to stay on the path of sustainable growth.

Mr. Contri provided us with details about the company’s recently launched line of compact Hydraulic Power Pack as well as the new family of electric pumps EL 100:

Dragflow is well known for customized and tailor made hydraulic system for the dredging and offshore markets. At the same time we have seen that in many projects the ability to provide to the market a compact and competitive Power Pack with a very good delivery time is the key to secure the contract. We decided therefore to design a line of Power Pack, with a very low possibility of customization, more competitive in cost and delivery time, and at the same time they have all the required features to run our dredging systems safely and efficiently.

The family of EL100 pumps has been another good surprise. There was actually a gap in our line of electric pumps that we decided to cover with a family of five new pumps in the range between 110 and 200 HP. The good surprise has been that our customers have been so confident in us that we received the first orders while we were still in the test phase.

The complete line is now ready and tested and we expect high level of interest, especially in the mining market for tailing management projects. Together with these pumps, we also introduced the EL300, a 300HP pump that is at the moment the biggest electric pump of our production.

Besides the new family of pumps, along 2013 we have reached, thanks to the collaboration with our Canadian partners, the UL/CSA electrical certification on all our electric pumps and we are working to comply with the strictest regulations required by the mining industry worldwide.

Concerning the markets currently in focus, and the possible expansion of their business areas, Mr. Contri said:

We currently operate world-wide but we have a stronger presence in Europe, Russia, Latin America and South East of Asia. We are increasing attention on the North American market (Mexico, US and Canada), where we plan to set-up a more capillary distribution network in the next years, and the African market, where infrastructures and mining projects are running faster than ever.

He added:

A high percentage of our turnover is invested every year in R&D and people training. The world changes fast and we want to stay at the top. It is not only the matter of creating new products but also building machines that create sustainable operations for our customers. We are putting a lot of effort to introduce new technological innovations inside our products to make our customers more efficient and productive.

At the moment we are working on new electric cutter heads for our electric line of pumps and we are gaining more experience and putting more attention into the deep sea dredging system. We have already supplied high depth dredging system for a project up to 300m of working depth, but the challenge is to acquire all the knowledge needed to support our customers by delivering customized and efficient systems that can be integrated into their original equipment to work as efficiently as possible.

Mr. Massimo Contri, Export Manager of Dragflow, concluded the interview by saying:

First of all I want to thank you for the interview and the interest in Dragflow, second I would like to share a final thought about our vision. The world has changed, the 20/80 model, according to which 20% of the population consumes 80% of the planet’s natural resources, thanks to a cumulative process of hyper-consumption and hyper-indebtedness, is finished; the financial and economic crises have been a consequence of this change in the world equilibrium. New emerging countries are asking for more resources and better life and are ready to compete at world level. This is a progress for humanity but it can be either a challenge or an opportunity for European companies, like Dragflow.

If we want to preserve the life on earth and the wellness of our people and communities, we have to look for products and machines that work more efficiently, with less use of energy and water. We need to have trained people, create an open environment within our company and strong relationship with local talents in the different markets. Only the companies that will embrace this course will experience a sustainable growth. Dragflow is very keen in pursuing this path.

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Dredging Today Staff, May 14, 2014