ROSWELL, Ga. – Kamstrup Water Metering opened its new US Production Facility on February 8 in Roswell, Ga. Danish Ambassador to the United States, Lars Gert Lose, had the honor of cutting the ribbon for the opening ceremony. Together with Kamstrup's CEO Kim Lehmann and Kamstrup's Senior Vice President of North America Lars Bo Kristensen, the three leaders marked the special day with a few words about Kamstrup’s growth and how it will benefit the US water industry.
"Today, Kamstrup establishes its first production of intelligent water meters outside Denmark with the potential to supply all of America from Roswell," said Kim Lehmann, Kamstrup's CEO. "Here, American labor will work side by side with robots producing high quality water meters that will help to identify non-revenue water from California to Boston, from Canada to Chile."
Lars Bo Kristensen explained how Kamstrup has experienced exponential growth in the US, due to the increasing demand for innovative water metering solutions. “Seventeen percent of all static intelligent water meters sold in the USA in 2017 came from Kamstrup–quite impressive after only four years in the USA.”
Kristensen poses the question: “What makes it possible for an "unknown-in-USA" company like Kamstrup to have success in a mature water meter market such as the US?" Is it due to low prices? No. Was there an immediate need for more competition? No. Was there a lack of products in the USA? No, not really. There are many answers, such as innovation, simplicity,
design and sensors, but the most important one is quality: Product quality and the quality of water measurement."
Ambassador Lose commented on the role Denmark plays in solving global water loss issues, including the country’s cooperation with California through the Water Technology Alliance.
“Kamstrup is also part of the bigger story about Danish leadership in water technology. Water is a global-critical issue. Between 25-50 percent of water is lost due to bad metering, aging infrastructure, and leakages. The numbers are better in the US, it’s down to 16 percent loss; the good news is that of those 16 percent, 67 percent are recoverable if you have the right technology. In Denmark, we’ve faced
the same challenges; today we are down to six percent water loss, which is the lowest number in Europe. The point is that the same thing can be done here in the US and the reason why we have done so well in Denmark is partly due to companies like Kamstrup who are able to provide the technology that allows us to take those great leaps into the future when it comes to water management. So, we are very much looking forward to a stronger partnership with the US in the future on handling water; side-by-side with Kamstrup we will deliver the technology that we need, and I think we are already seeing some promising results here.”
Guests who attended included Mayor Lori Henry of Roswell, Ashley Jenkins, District Director for the Office of Congresswoman Karen Handel (GA-06), and water professionals from Georgia, Tennessee and around the country.
Kamstrup's automated production will enable close proximity between customers, production and product development. By adding additional manufacturing capacity, Kamstrup will be able to meet the high demand utilities have for smart water meter solutions.