Dewatering pumps and dredging specialist IPR recently welcomed a master distributorship for global industrial company Atlas Copco’s new pumps range in the Southern Africa region into its overall product and service offering.

This will advance plans to further its position as a new product supplier and an engineered-product provider, rather than simply being regarded as a rental company.

Formerly known as Integrated Pump Rental, the firm has transformed significantly since its founding in 2015, and is now recognised as IPR within the market as it continues to add to its product and service offering.

The name change included a complete overhaul of the company’s now easy-to-navigate website, which offers summaries on its products and services, with a “purchase” and “rental” button that simplifies the process for customers.

The company has, over the past eight years, built a significant presence in the mining, construction, agriculture and other industrial sectors, though it was mostly synonymous with pump rentals in the dewatering and dredging space across industries.

“That’s the beauty of this direction – we have rental equipment available, which enables customers to rent the pump before purchasing it. This also helps when there are lead times on equipment, as customers can continue without any impact on their operation,” says IPR MD Lee Vine.

IPR, while growing its diesel-driven dewatering pump rentals and its range of products for sale, also designs and manufactures fit-for-purpose solutions that are reliable and cost effective.

With complete engineering capabilities at its new facility in Jet Park, Boksburg, all pumpsets are built locally, consequently enabling IPR to produce fully customised pumpsets and provide any associated infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the new arrangement with Atlas Copco will further enhance the company’s offering.

The new range includes wet prime and dry prime diesel-driven pumps, as well as submersible pumps for the three key pumping categories – dewatering, sludge and slurry.

The diesel-driven pumps range in capacity from a 30 m to 150 m head, with flow rates from 50 m3/ h to 1 500 m3/h, with the submersible range of Atlas Copco ranging from 0.4 kW to 54 kW.

The Atlas Copco brand “boasts a high level of quality, with robust construction materials for strong performance and rugged wear,” says Vine, who adds that the range has additional features, such as high chrome impellers and mechanical seal flushing, which “all contribute to optimal reliability and uptime”.

Atlas Copco’s pumps have also been designed with the user in mind, including ease of access to internal components and a compact modular design. They are versatile and mobile, and can be trailer- or skid-based.

This range will also be available for either purchase or rental through IPR. The company also supplies other brands such as Grindex, Flygt and Goodwin.

“The distributorship has been very well received; we are able to offer our customers so much more value for money now. We have grown a lot over the past eight years, and the Atlas Copco range just fits right into place,” Vine comments.

He further notes that the company has a substantial stockholding in place at its Jet Park facility, which also has a well-equipped and professionally staffed centre, as well as field service technicians who are “available 24/7” to support the market and IPR customers.

“IPR has developed its depth of technical expertise and market knowledge since we launched in 2015. Our skills base and connection to customers have made this collaboration with Atlas Copco a perfect fit for us, as it adds considerable value for our customer base,” Vine elaborates.

He further adds that IPR is “very well established in South Africa, with agents positioned in all strategic mining areas”.

The company intends to expand into Africa and will largely target countries such as Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Namibia.