30 years ago, in 1978, the first Packo pump was designed, and today, some 250,000 pumps later, Packo has developed into a renowned manufacturer of stainless steel pumps. They are used with an enormous range of products in various sectors all over the world.
We spoke to Paul Vandenbon, who after 32 years is still working for his first employer. He has run the pump department in Diksmuide for the past 20 years.
Pump department
“Originally, we only built pumps for milking installations, but a strategic decision was quickly taken to develop a complete pump range. The pumps were mainly suited for the general food industry, but could also be used as all-round stainless steel pumps in other sectors.
Knowledge and know-how
A knowledge of hydraulics is required to construct pumps. We didn’t want to rely on copying other brands, so to start with we mainly invested in developing mathematical models to calculate the pump geometry of impellers and volute casing. The know-how in stainless steel manufacturing had been present at Packo since 1960. The combination of the two led to a series of pumps which offered high efficiency and a gentle pump action. Even today, investments are still made every year in development and testbeds. We now have four extensive testing stations which are used exclusively for research. The last of these was brought into use in 2006 for flow rates of up to 1000 m³/h and up to 110 kW.
