Backgrounder:
Grundfos Water Utility Center
LOCATION: Aurora, Illinois, 40 miles west of Chicago
(photo right).
DESCRIPTION: Formerly operating as Yeomans
Chicago Corporation (YCC), this office, warehouse and
manufacturing facility is devoted exclusively to the
production, servicing and distribution of pumps and
other equipment for the municipal waste water
treatment market throughout North America, while
also working on international projects. The Aurora
operation now produces a variety of pumps, motors
and related equipment, including:

Waste water pump systems and heavy-duty waste water pumps;

Pneumatic ejector systems, air compressors and dry vacuum pumps;

Severe-duty, cup-type recess impeller pumps and heavy-duty waste water pumps;

Waste water/sludge grinder solutions;

Package lift stations;

Dry pit and wet pit motors.
FACILITY: Opened in 1999, the Aurora facility spans 105,000 square feet (sf) on one level, including an 86,000-sf
machine shop for production, assembly, servicing, painting, and testing. This space also includes 22,000 sf of
rack storage space for raw castings, parts and components that are machined to exacting customer
specifications, either for new projects or the after-market servicing. Total inventory value fluctuates between $3
million and $4 million.
MANAGEMENT: Andrew Warrington, CEO and General Manager of the Water Utility business unit; Jeff Deurlein,
vice president of business development; Bryan O’Toole vice president of sales; John P. Kelly, vice president of
operations; Michael J. Franzen, executive director of manufacturing.
PERSONNEL: Aurora employs approximately 95 full-time workers, including 31 machinists who work two shifts
five days per week. Most machine-shop employees are certified machinists capable of operating multiple
machines and doing multiple processes. These skills are critical for what is largely a specialty business devoted to
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engineered, rather than mass-produced, products. “Having machinists capable of handling all the many variables
that go into a customized order is essential,” says Franzen. “Such orders are costly to fabricate, involving a huge
degree of risk, so we simply cannot afford mistakes. That is why we maintain such a high degree of competency,
and why Grundfos has invested so much in new technology” since acquiring YCC.
HISTORY: Seeking to raise its profile in the North
American municipal waste water market in
dramatic fashion, Grundfos purchased YCC in
December 2008. YCC itself consisted of a
collection of venerable, Chicago-based pump
brands whose roots go back a century or more:
Morris Pumps (founded in 1864), Yeomans Pumps
(1898) and Chicago Pump (1909). After operating
for decades as highly successful independents,
Yeomans and Chicago became part of the Clow
Corporation (now Clow Valve) in 1966 and 1980,
respectively.
When McWane, Inc. bought Clow in 1985, the two
Overview of the machine shop at the Water Utility Center in Aurora, Ill.
pump companies were divested as a single entity
and renamed Yeomans Chicago Corporation. Seven years later, YCC was purchased from its management by
former Clow president John L. Kelly and his son, John P. Kelly (now vice president of operations for Aurora). The
pair subsequently added Morris to their portfolio in a 1996 acquisition.
THE GRUNDFOS ADVANTAGE: John P. Kelly cites several reasons for the 2008 sale to Grundfos, emphasizing in
particular the worldwide recognition and clout of the Grundfos brand. “This is a capital-intensive business that
entails quite a bit of risk because of the large projects and custom-made orders we pursue,” says Kelly, who
points to the investments Grundfos immediately began making post-acquisition. “Grundfos has helped us
upgrade our machinery with the latest technology for Computer Numerically Controlled programming. That —
along with Grundfos’ worldwide sourcing and buying power—has allowed us to maintain world-class quality at a
competitive price.”
Along with greater access to more sophisticated technology and global sources, the 2008 acquisition has given
Aurora greater access to… Grundfos. “We have four sister companies with whom I communicate on a regular
basis,” says Kelly, who also serves on the Grundfos Operations Council that meets quarterly to discuss issues and
strategies. “As an independent, we didn’t enjoy that type of ongoing knowledge exchange.”
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Kelly also underlines the Grundfos commitment to energy-saving products made in local facilities, such as the
recent move to produce the Grundfos S range of submersible sewage pumps in Aurora. “Grundfos has worked
hard to push its manufacturing out of Europe and into the national markets it serves around the globe, including
the United States,” he says. “Besides being more energy-efficient, these products are also sustainable by virtue
of their being locally produced. In the wake of the recent downturn, Americans have a much better appreciation
of the fact that ‘my neighbor has a job because he works for a company that manufactures in the United
States.’”
COMPETENCE CENTER STRATEGY: Now, three years after the acquisition, the Aurora operation has been named
a “competence center” that will spearhead Grundfos’ involvement in the municipal waste water market in North
America. Jes Munk Hansen, CEO of Grundfos North America, defines a “competency center” as “a critical mass
of knowledgeable experienced professionals with an in-depth understanding of a particular industry and
working closely together under one roof.” The essential skills these people provide include sales, service,
engineering, education, supply-chain management and production — all critical to the success of the Water
Utility Center.
“We are marketing highly engineered products that routinely cost several millions of dollars,” Hansen explains.
“Simply selling these sophisticated products without major support would never work. Our customers depend
on consultative services that typically start years before the sale is made.” And once the sale is finalized, that
product will likely be in operation for decades, requiring ongoing engineering and service support of the kind the
Aurora center provides.
THE FUTURE: Jes Munk Hansen, CEO of Grundfos North America, says the company is committed to a long-term
investment and growth strategy in Aurora, with the goal of boosting annual revenues by a factor of two or three
over the next half-decade. Describing the introductions made to date as “just the tip of the iceberg,” he
promises that Grundfos will launch over the next two or three years “a strong and growing portfolio of even
more advanced waste water pumps with higher energy efficiencies. We will also see the influx of new services
that will be in greater demand, such as remote pump monitoring and data collection.”
The launch pad for these introductions will be, of course, the Aurora operation with its skilled and seasoned
team of waste water industry professionals. “It is rare that you can say that an acquisition makes as much sense
as the Yeomans purchase,” says Hansen, “but we see Grundfos and YCC as a perfect match.”
For editorial assistance, contact: 1) John O’Reilly or Joel Williams, c/o O’Reilly/DePalma, 32 West Nebraska
Street, Suite 1C, Frankfort, Illinois 60423; tel.: 815-469-9100, extension 302; fax: 815-469-2555; E-mail:
john.oreilly@oreilly-depalma.com or joel.williams@oreilly-depalma.com. 2) Helen Mubarak, Communications
Officer, Grundfos. Tel. 913-302-3702; E-mail: hmubarak@grundfos.com
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