A vision for pumps, supported by IT

Founded in 1877, ANDRITZ Ritz manufactures pumps and submersible motors used for municipal and industrial water supply and sewage systems, mining applications and offshore platforms. With 280 employees, ANDRITZ Ritz operates under its parent company, Andritz AG, and is a leading manufacturer in its market segment, with more than one million pump systems installed worldwide.

Using state-of-the-art design and manufacturing practices, ANDRITZ Ritz produces pump systems and replacement parts, and on occasion embarks on spectacular engineering projects. For example, the company produced the world’s largest submersible pump. With a height of 13 meters (43 feet) and a diameter of 1 meter (3.2 feet), this pump is used for the Las Vegas, Nevada municipal water system, delivering water from Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States. In another example, the company secured an order to build the world’s largest subsea drive. With a power capacity of 3,000 kilowatts, it will be used at a depth of around 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) to pump a mixture of gas and oil.

To manage a workload consisting of small batch jobs as well as one-off, large-scale projects, ANDRITZ Ritz must combine engineering efficiency with the highest possible levels of accuracy. “This requires a lean and integrated process,” says Hans-Juergen Steeb, manager of information technology (IT) and organization at ANDRITZ Ritz. “A mid-sized company such as ours, with limited resources, must implement a long-term strategy – a step-by-step approach over a multi-year timeframe – to establish the necessary IT infrastructure.”

Under Steeb’s leadership, ANDRITZ Ritz’s IT infrastructure has been constantly evolving and improving. For example, after implementing abas ERP software for 58 users, Steeb was able to retire four legacy systems. An upgrade from 2D computer-aided design (CAD) to a 3D design process using Solid Edge® software from Siemens Digital Industries Software improved the efficiency and accuracy of the engineering department.