Ruhrpumpen GmbH in the 1950s
The company’s history officially began in 1950 in the neighborhood of Annen in Witten, Germany under the name of Ruhrpumpen GmbH Wende & Hentschel. It started operations in the empty halls of the former Annen steel factory and, after the Second World War, it got busy with the maintenance of the existing installed pumps from all makers and models, as well as the manufacturing of new spare parts. Very quickly, a series of new constructions generated the need for new pumping equipment, primarily centrifugal and piston pumps for the ship industry, and, a little later, centrifugal pumps for pipelines and refineries. This gave birth to Ruhrpumpen’s extensive pump portfolio and started a series of changes for Ruhrpumpen:
- 1955 Ruhrpumpen GmbH was acquired by Ruhrstahlwerke AG and continued operating under the same brand.
- 1957 Ruhrpumpen started the production of process pumps under the license of PACIFIC San Francisco, bringing a continued development of the company.
- 1963 the Rheinstahl Hüttenwerke AG acquired Ruhrpumpen GmbH.
- 1974 the jumbo merger of the Rheinstahl AG and the Thyssen AG took place and Ruhrpumpen became part of the Thyssen Industrie AG machine engineering until 1996, when the Thyssen managing board decided to withdraw from the pump business. The Ruhrpumpen era was about to end.
The New Ruhrpumpen
Acquisition of Ruhrpumpen GmbH by Corporacion EG, 1997
In 1997, Mr. Cesar A. Elizondo Villarreal, founder of the Mexican family company Corporación EG, together with his Canadian financial partners, acquired Ruhrpumpen GmbH. With this, Mr. Elizondo became the first Mexican entrepreneur ever to invest in a German industrial undertaking.
Corporacion EG was a successful company with strong reputation for quality and operational excellence that began operations in 1979 as a Computer Numeric Control (CNC) machine shop in Monterrey, Mexico, to render services to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). In 1986, the firm acquired its first pump company, Crane Deming de Mexico SA de CV, and went on to take over Worthington de Mexico SA de CV in 1991.
Since 1997, a series of capital investments, acquisitions, new product development and a strong focus on customer needs have taken Ruhrpumpen to become a global supplier of highly engineered pumping technologies and related products:
2000
Acquisition of the Flowserve manufacturing plant in Tulsa, OK, and formation of Ruhrpumpen USA. By acquiring this facility, RP gained access to the world’s biggest market and obtained an exclusive license to manufacture eight product lines typically used in oil refineries and power generation plants. This acquisition also established the foundations for the new Ruhrpumpen Group.
Worthington de México became Ruhrpumpen S.A. This marked the beginning of what today is the Ruhrpumpen Group.
2001
Our 1st complete decoking system for a refinery was quoted for Venezuela and won the order for Hamaca Project. At the time, we had no experience in decoking systems neither drawings, with a strong German Engineering team the engineering and design process started. In the end, Ruhrpumpen successfully supplied the system series 001. Today we are a major player in the global decoking business, leading on technology and performance.
2004
The customer base started to demand a more local presence with national integration, support and competitive service. This triggered an organic growth and expansion of Ruhrpumpen global footprint.
Ruhrpumpen Argentina was formed, to provide pumping systems and services in the South Cone.
2006
A joint venture with the Egyptian government led to the formation of Ruhrpumpen Egypt for the production and service of API centrifugal pumps.
2007
Birth of the Fire Pumps Business Unit, Ruhrpumpen Systems.
2009
To serve the growing Indian market and consolidate operations in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, the company established a new manufacturing facility, Ruhrpumpen India.
Maquinados Programados became Ruhrpumpen Industrial, and the foundry changed the focus to dedicate the resources producing castings only for the Ruhrpumpen Group, today this is Ruhrpumpen Metals.
2011
RP reinforces its presence in the South American market with the opening of a new state-of-the-art production facility in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2012
Ruhrpumpen expands its presence in the emerging markets with the opening of a new modern manufacturing facility in Changzhou, China.
New Plant - RP Argentina
2013
Ruhrpumpen expands its global service network by opening a new Service Center in Antofagasta, Chile, to attend its customers in the South Cone.
2014
The time came to invest and have our own manufacturing facility in China. Ruhrpumpen China was opened, a new modern manufacturing facility.
To serve the growing Indian market and consolidate operations in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Ruhrpumpen establishes a new manufacturing facility in Chennai, India.
RP opens new production facility in Lancing, United Kingdom to design, assemble, test and package high-tech reciprocating plunger pumps.
New Plant - RP Brazil
2015 - 2016
Our first non-centrifugal pump line was added with the addition of Ruhrpumpen UK, established and focused on design and manufacture of API plunger pumps mainly but not limited for the oil and gas markets.
Ruhrpumpen Russia was incorporated with a service and packing facility for the region.
New Plant - RP China
2017
RP India moves into new modern facility in Chennai.
2019
Ruhrpumpen Industrial Europa was setup in the UK as the starting point for our entry into the European industrial pump market.
With the expansion of our industrial products, the development of a strong and competitive supply chain, forms the basis of Ruhrpumpen Industrial's expansion.