Kamstrup - Manufacturing Outlook - issue 2

OFFERING STATE-OF-THE-ART SOLUTIONS

KAMSTRUP NORTH AMERICA

LEADERS I N WAT E R METERS As a prominent and dominant force in the smart water metering industry, we speak to Kamstrup’s Country Manager and Vice President of North America, Bruce Bharat, about system solutions Writer: Rachel Carr | Project Manager: Ben Weaver

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ounded in 1946, and with employees in more than 20 countries, Kamstrup is owned by Danish company OK. A world-leading manufacturer of advanced, solid-state, or static ultrasonic metering solutions for water utilities, Kamstrup also delivers network communications and software solutions for the water industry.

“In North America, we are primarily focused on water; in Canada, we are also engaged in the heating and cooling meter market,” opens Bruce Bharat, Country Manager and Vice President of North America at Kamstrup.

Kamstrup’s origin story revolves around vision, innovation, and perseverance. Since Olaf Kamstrup embarked on his journey as a selfemployed technician, the company has been driven by its late founder’s mantra – “there is always a better solution.

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“To this day, those words drive our people as we pioneer advancements in smart metering solutions through our values – inspire, lead, and deliver,” Bharat continues.

Some pivotal moments have required bold decision-making in keeping with Kamstrup’s vision and values. In 1991, for example, when Kamstrup was a small, agile company amidst a sea of bigger, more successful industry giants, the decision was made to invest in new technology based on the ultrasonic measuring principle over 20 years earlier than any other incumbent water meter provider.

As an early adopter of static ultrasonic technology, Kamstrup left mechanical metering behind over 30 years ago. Today, the company dominates the water industry – delivering the most ultrasonic meters in the market.

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KAMSTRUP NORTH AMERICA

“We are the only metering provider in North America exclusively offering a full line of static ultrasonic meters, from residential to large commercial and industrial.

MANUFACTURING OUTLOOK: WHAT TYPE OF WORK CULTURE DOES KAMSTRUP HAVE, AND HOW IS IT REFLECTED IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION? Bruce Bharat, Country Manager and Vice President of North America: “Culture starts with a purpose. At Kamstrup, we cultivate a work culture driven by a shared passion for water conversion, preventing water loss, and knowing that water is life. Our team is motivated by our noble mission of contributing to a sustainable future.

“We also have a very collaborative environment, and every individual’s contribution is valued. Committing to a purpose-driven culture translates into an exceptional dedication to our customers. This commitment is also reflected in our innovative smart water solutions and, in turn, high satisfaction from our utility customers.”

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“We are the company to watch in the water meter industry and are rapidly growing,” observes Bharat.

Kamstrup is widely considered one of the industry’s leading providers that helps utilities measure, manage, and analyze water consumption.

SOLID SOLUTIONS For decades, the water industry has been taught to manage and react. In contrast, Kamstrup has a different approach – it listens and learns.

“There is no such thing as innovation without understanding and empathy, and just like Olaf Kamstrup, we are relentless innovators,” reflects Bharat.

In the market, Kamstrup’s meters are an objective point of difference — their quality is unmatched. They are made of a composite material that resists cross-threading – this characteristic alone receives much attention.

“We also offer stainless steel options for customers concerned about ground shift. All of our commercial and industrial meters are stainless steel,” he adds.

Inside the meters and across its portfolio, Kamstrup embodies the future of water: focused, clean, and high-quality.

“In offering a portfolio exclusively focused on static meters, we offer only the future. We provide reliability, accuracy, and durability as we have the highest-quality meters in the water industry. Kamstrup’s return and customer satisfaction rates are unmatched,” outlines Bharat.

Indeed, Kamstrup’s state-of-the-art meters can identify leaks - known as “real losses” - 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on both the consumer and distribution side thanks to integrated acoustic leak detection.

In doing so, they enable utilities to “see” underground leaks within the distribution network, prioritize repairs, and help reduce the non-revenue water.

This is achieved simply by doing what water utilities have always done: installing meters without hardware or additional networks, like other commercially available solutions. It also adds a new, unique dimension to the traditional advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) business case, primarily focused on operational benefits, that help accelerate return on investment and create a more sustainable environment.

In one instance, a utility reduced water loss from 51 percent to 28 percent three months after deployment.

This was the case in Oneida,

Tennessee, a testament to the company’s technology and the team’s commitment to drastically reducing water loss.

“The easiest way to change customer expectations is to demonstrate Kamstrup in action, to install a meter in the ground, in a house, or other application. Similarly, our customers are our best advocates.

Their results and successes best explain the benefits we can offer,” Bharat highlights.

PROGRESSIVE PROJECT Along with moving to a new facility,

“THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS I N N O VAT I O N W I T H O U T U N D E R S TA N D I N G A N D E M P AT H Y, A N D J U S T L I K E O L A F K A M S T R U P, W E A R E R E L E N T L E S S I N N O VAT O R S ” – B R U C E B H A R AT, C O U N T R Y M A N A G E R A N D V I C E P R E S I D E N T O F NORTH AMERICA, KAMSTRUP

the company’s third North American expansion project in 12 years, Kamstrup is celebrating a milestone project win. El Paso Water is installing Kamstrup’s AMI system and software with meter-integrated acoustic leak detection across more than 220,000 homes and businesses in El Paso, Texas.

“It’s our largest project to date. It is a win for Kamstrup, El Paso, and our distributor partner, Ferguson,” Bharat comments.

The project began with a pilot in which El Paso Water installed several hundred meters across the street from a competitor’s product – half of these were manufactured by Kamstrup.

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ETEC Services, Inc. (ETEC) provides robust and innovative solutions to our customers, allowing them to operate efficiently, increase production, improve overall system performance, and enhance customer satisfaction. We offer a variety of services to our customers providing them with the necessary services and support for sustainable success.

As an elite distributor of Kamstrup products, ETEC is actively involved in deploying and implementing Kamstrup solutions from start to finish. Our dedicated sales team is heavily involved throughout the entire sales process along with our project management team to ensure a seamless transition from sale to project to post-deployment services and maintenance.

Our experienced project management team has successfully deployed and implemented AMR, AMI, and ALD Kamstrup solutions throughout our territories. Our project management team is fully trained and certified on all Kamstrup software, infrastructure, and devices allowing us to successfully deploy, implement, and optimize Kamstrup solutions for our customers.

In addition, our post-deployment service offerings give our customers the option to have our experienced service and support team continue to provide ongoing professional services and support that will allow them to utilize their Kamstrup solution to its fullest capabilities maximizing their return on investment.

SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS

ETEC specializes in acoustic leak detection (ALD), advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), and automatic meter reading (AMR).

We provide services and support throughout all phases of a project, including pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment.

ADVISORY AND PLANNING

ETEC works with the utility’s staff and consultants to asses the current system, identify issues, and provide the best solution to meet the utility’s needs. We work with all stakeholders to develop a project implementation plan and schedule to meet the utility’s goals and expectations through system analysis, data analysis, planning and development, and scheduling.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

We provide project management services throughout the duration of the project by managing and overseeing the entire deployment process. Our project management team is involved in all stages of the deployment process including planning, implementation, and optimization of Kamstrup solutions.

We coordinate with manufacturers, installation contractors, utility personnel, and consultants throughout the duration of the project. We also track and report progress, manage changes, and provide quality control assistance. ETEC’s project management team has the experience, skills, and expertise to provide the services and support that will ensure a successful project. This is through procurement, project controls, data management, software integration, inventory management, PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS City of Jackson, MS – ALD Water Meter Project: o

Kamstrup ALD Solution

o

74,000 Metering Points

City of Lake Charles, LA – ALD Water Meter Project: o

Kamstrup ALD Solution

o

36,000+ Metering Points

meter configuration, delivery coordination, quality control, and troubleshooting.

NETWORK MONITORING

Our team at ETEC provides AMI network monitoring services to ensure the system operates at peak performance. We continuously monitor and analyze network infrastructure health and system performance to identify any potential issues.

ETEC’s technical support team will identify, investigate, and troubleshoot performance issues involving the AMI network infrastructure and devices. All networking monitoring services are provided in routine reporting to the client.

This includes monitoring AMI network health and performance; remotely addressing AMI system issues; remotely addressing data issues; ensuring network performance standards are met; monitoring and track AMI alarms, system health reporting; KPI reporting; and field troubleshooting.

LEAK MONITORING

ETEC provides leak monitoring services and support to our customers utilizing Kamstrup’s ALD solution to reduce non-revenue water, lower operating costs, and increase revenue.

Our leak monitoring services allow utilities to efficiently identify, locate, and repair leaks on service lines and distribution mains. Our advanced analytics and reporting enable utilities to prioritize maintenance and repair efforts.

This includes monitoring acoustic noise data throughout the distribution network; analyzing and interpreting acoustic noise data; localizing potential leaks on service lines and distribution

mains; prioritizing and coordinating maintenance and repair efforts; work order management; and reporting.

SUPPORT

ETEC’s support team provides services and support to all of our customers, so they can utilize the Kamstrup solution to its fullest potential and maximize return on investment.

This includes IT support; an online help desk with service ticketing management, remote desktop support, and a knowledge base; a return merchandise authorization (RMA); and training for software, such as READy manager,

READy app, leak detector, metertool, labtool, and field procedures, such as READy mobile app and field troubleshooting.

SERVICE AND MAINTENANCE

ETEC provides ongoing post-development service and maintenance options that include monitoring and maintaining the AMI network infrastructure and devices.

Our ongoing service and maintenance allow the utility to lower operating costs, increase operational efficiency, and optimize system performance to ensure the maximum return on investment.

This includes network monitoring; IT support and troubleshooting; leak monitoring; analytics and reporting; customer service; RMA process management; field service and maintenance; and training.

ETEC also offers alternative funding options through strategic partnerships such as meteringas-a-service (MaaS), infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), and network-as-a-service (NaaS).

ETEC has in-depth knowledge and years of experience in municipal projects, and our professional staff has specific industrial expertise in such areas as pulp and paper, petrochemical, and poultry processing. Our depth of knowledge is matched by our team, which features eight outside salespersons, eight support staff, and six service technicians. With these resources our clients can feel confident they will be consistently provided with exceptional service and guidance they can trust.

Our service is what truly sets ETEC apart. We know this industry. We understand the challenges our clients face. We know what they need to ensure their projects are successful. ETEC consistently delivers on our promise of impeccable service through three distinct sectors: outside sales, contract administration, and field service.

BENEFITS •

Improve operational efficiency

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Lower operating costs

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Increase revenue

OTHER INDUSTRIES SERVED

•

Improve customer service

•

Water treatment

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Reduce non-revenue water

•

Wastewater treatment

•

Future investment

•

Solids handling

•

Stormwater

WHY ETEC?

ETEC is an organization with expertise in equipment applications for water treatment, wastewater treatment, solids handling, and air emissions. By concentrating on these related areas, we offer an extensive collection of products, which allows us to present optimum solutions for our clients’ particular environmental problems.

We partner with a range of manufacturers to offer our clients the highest quality products for their environmental projects. In addition, we continue to seek manufacturers that not only produce stellar equipment, but are also technological leaders in their field.

www.etec-sales.com

KAMSTRUP NORTH AMERICA

“In a short period, it was clear that Kamstrup meters were measuring more accurately and pulling in more revenue than our competitors.

“Kamstrup’s solid state meter showed consistent and reliable performance. Kamstrup meters paid for themselves, and El Paso committed to a city-wide project in just over a year,” shares Bharat.

The project has many interesting aspects, but one of Bharat’s favorites is that Kamstrup was a uniting factor for the utility. In other words, Kamstrup meters delivered added value, satisfying concerns across the organization, from the meter shop to customer service teams, and from finance and operations to sustainability.

METERING-AS-A-SERVICE (MAAS) MaaS is a truly innovative solution that promises to change the water industry. It is a cooperative solution made possible by Sustainability Partners and Kamstrup that allows utilities to transform infrastructure and operations without upfront capital and zero risk.

Sustainability Partners is a public-benefit corporation offering usage-based infrastructure solutions. By necessity, it has rigorous standards for the meters used as part of MaaS. HOW MAAS WORKS: • It provides complete turnkey installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting, covered by a monthly fee. Once a meter is installed and is verified to be operational, 30 days later, a small monthly fee per installed meter is billed to the utility.

• Sustainability Partners and Kamstrup absorb the costs of deploying meters for a utility and take all the associated risks and accountability for performance.

• Sustainability Partners and Kamstrup resolve any meter issues at no additional cost to utilities, and monthly fees are waived until challenges are fixed and verified. Vendors are accountable for the installation, quality, and performance of water metering assets, end-to-end – a “lifetime warranty” for smart meters.

• MaaS delivers an instant return on investment and eliminates risk. In contrast to the traditional model, if the solution is not working as designed, with MaaS, the utility does not pay the monthly fee until the problem is resolved.

• Any maintenance and troubleshooting burden is shifted away from the utility and directs water utility resources toward proactive problem-solving, such as eliminating leaks in the distribution network.

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HURDLING BARRIERS Some projects undertaken

by Kamstrup have been more challenging, but the company has overcome many issues.

“I think about projects such as Milcrofton, Tennessee, where their legacy automatic meter reading (AMR) systems began to fail before they were expected to, increasing the operation cost to the utility. We brought in our product, and the crew’s first reaction was to dismiss it because it was different. They mistook our composite meter for plastic.

“The Milcrofton crew took one of our meters and tested it. They put a 24-inch pipe wrench on a vice with the meter and couldn’t misthread or break it. They admitted that the amount of torque applied would undoubtedly have damaged a brass meter,” Bharat declares.

Milcrofton went on to become Kamstrup’s first AMI customer in the US. Furthermore, Iredell County in North Carolina has a highly rural environment, which can be challenging for AMI technology.

We’ve got your back at every angle At Fortiline, our valued customers include small municipalities to large, multi-state corporations and everything in between.

Fortiline Waterworks is a leading supplier of underground water, sewer, and storm utility products in the United States. Founded in 1997, Fortiline distributes thousands of SKUs to a diverse base of contractors, developers, and municipal customers through our branch network across the U.S.

We have extensive experience with all water meters, AMR, and AMI systems on the market.

Fortiline can provide customized programs to evaluate the condition of your metering system, correct immediate problems, and keep it running smoothly for the long term.

From estimating and bid support before the project begins to expert procurement of the right products to project management and on-time delivery — we are with you every step of the way.

www.fortiline.com

KAMSTRUP NORTH AMERICA

“We were able to deploy the collector infrastructure to read meters remotely and cost-effectively, enabling Iredell Water to read meters across their entire 450-mile service territory at a success rate of over 98 percent,” Bharat divulges.

The revenue capture that Iredell Water received through low-flow accuracy with Kamstrup meters has delivered an increase of 10 million gallons from one year to the next.

“For nearly two decades, they carried mechanical meters and missed a lot of consumption.”

Additionally, a project in Jackson, Mississippi, presented challenges as the state capital was engaged in a lawsuit with a previous contractor over poor performance.

Therefore, Jackson was thrust into a simultaneous financial and water crisis.

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“They were losing significant amounts of water before delivery to citizens, the billing and receivables were at a low point, and the water quality was unstable, leaving the citizens of Jackson without safe, clean drinking water.

“Through our partnership with Sustainability Partners, we approached Jackson with MaaS, which enabled them to overhaul their infrastructure with no upfront capital investment or financial risk,” Bharat shares.

Jackson is now beginning to deliver safe, clean drinking water again, and receivables are increasing.

Kamstrup technology helps the city restore trust and generate revenue through accurate metering. Its meterintegrated acoustic leak detection also helps locate leaks within Jackson’s distribution system.

INNOVATIVE METERING INFRASTRUCTURE Not all AMI solutions are the same.

Kamstrup has elevated what is possible with AMI by integrating measurement and detection capabilities with communications inside the meter.

“There is a reason why Kamstrup boasts more ultrasonic installations than our competitors – our meters simply outperform the competition.

Once customers install our ultrasonic meter in the ground, they love the performance, quality, and fast return on investment.

“We are constantly innovating to deliver utility technology that meets their current needs and a solution that anticipates tomorrow’s operational demands. We are proud to be at the forefront of innovations and technological advances in the water

industry,” prides Bharat.

One of Kamstrup’s standout technologies is the flowIQ® 2200, a groundbreaking solution redefining residential water metering. The ultrasonic meter features acoustic leak detection integrated into the meter, enabling utilities to monitor their distribution systems for leaks.

It also features best-in-class lowflow detection that measures even the most minor consumption below 1/10th of a gallon per minute. It is a vast improvement over mechanical meters and better than any available static meters.

“Our meters minimize the amount of water that goes undetected. The term we’ve coined in our business is, ‘life happens at 1/8th of a gallon’. Most meters in North America today will not capture water flow at such a low rate, where life happens,” he notes.

The meters have no moving parts, so the performance does not degrade over time. For utilities, such measurement sensitivity and durability can amount to significant, even transformational, revenue recovery.

The flowIQ® 2200 is the most accurate residential meter in the industry and the only one capable of listening bi-directionally, on the consumer and the distribution side, for leaks.

“In 2022, we extended all our ultrasonic meter and flow benefits to large six-to-12-inch commercial and industrial meters with the flowIQ® 4200 line. It combines the nondegrading accuracy and enhanced low-flow measurement of ultrasonic technology with a field-replaceable battery for easy maintenance to increase water revenues, maximizing the return on investment for water utilities.

“Kamstrup’s flowIQ® 4200 is designed for commercial and industrial applications, but the 10-inch version can detect a toilet flush! No other meter of that size can detect

flows that low. With that type of low-flow capture in a large meter application, the return on investment is very rapid.” exclaims Bharat.

FACILITIES OF THE FUTURE A new state-of-the-art, advanced manufacturing facility in Cumming, Georgia, complete with robotic automation, is on the horizon for Kamstrup. It will also house the company’s corporate offices, innovation center, and North American headquarters, which it moved into in mid-December 2023, with production slated to begin transitioning in early February.

When the transition to the new manufacturing facility is complete, Kamstrup will be the only water metering company manufacturing static meters inside the US. Most incumbents, even ones producing mechanical meters, have moved manufacturing operations outside of the country.

“We moved into our new manufacturing facility in December last year, and we will mark the occasion with a grand opening celebration planned for March 21st, 2024,” Bharat reveals.

The site totals over 150,000 square feet (sqft) and will be able to support over three million meters annually.

“We expect the first meters to come out of the new manufacturing facility in early February. We are excited about welcoming our partners, customers, and community leaders to the opening,” excites Bharat.

Moreover, regional expansion is already underway. Kamstrup boasts the largest AMI network deployment in Mexico and looks forward to delivering value to water utilities in Canada and the Caribbean.

Looking towards the future, Kamstrup continues building an unrivaled sales team and distribution network – focusing on small and mid-sized customers and explicitly centering on the larger water utilities

in North America.

“We focus more on marketing and creating brand awareness around our innovative technology through targeted campaigns, content, and education. We love our utility customers and look forward to highlighting their success stories even more as we grow together.”

Kamstrup is helping many cities and utilities operate more efficiently, and it aims to educate communities, ensuring they can leverage the best water technologies in the marketplace and ultimately conserve more water.

“We are bringing our new facility online to manufacture more meters to serve our customers in the US, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Optimizing our organization means we will continue to deliver better services and technology. Our product roadmap is exciting, and we are poised to add even more innovation and value to the market in 2024 and beyond,” Bharat closes.

KAMSTRUP +1 (404) 835-6716 info-us@kamstrup.com www.kamstrup.com Manufacturing Outlook Issue 2 | 13

Kamstrup Water Metering L.L.C 2855 Forsyth Commerce Way Building 200 Cumming, GA 30040, USA +1 (404) 835-6716 info-us@kamstrup.com www.kamstrup.com